Why the Gmail address is costing you
Customers judge quietly: an invoice from a free Gmail or Hotmail address reads as a hobby, and in some sectors it reads as a phishing attempt — corporate buyers and solicitors increasingly won't transact with free-mail addresses at all. Professional email on your own domain fixes the impression, and brings the practical layer people forget: shared calendars, a leaver's mailbox that stays with the business, group addresses like sales@ that the whole team can work, and email that's backed up and secured rather than living in one person's personal account. If an employee leaves and their personal Gmail was the business email — you've just lost your history and possibly your customers' route to you.
How we set it up
The modern answer is hosted Exchange through Microsoft 365 — the same email infrastructure enterprises run, priced per mailbox for small businesses. We register or connect your domain, create mailboxes and groups (info@, accounts@, sales@), configure phones and Outlook, and set up the authentication records (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) that keep your mail out of spam folders and stop criminals sending mail pretending to be you. That last part matters more than most providers admit — see email security.
Migration from wherever you are now
Existing email moves with you — old hosting, Gmail, an ISP address from 2009 — history, folders and contacts intact, with the old address kept receiving during the change so nothing falls through the gap. The classic fear is losing years of correspondence; the staged migration exists precisely so that can't happen. Most small-business migrations complete inside a day, with the business emailing throughout.
What it costs, honestly
A few pounds per mailbox per month — genuinely. For the price of a coffee per person you get enterprise email, 50GB+ mailboxes, calendars, and your own domain on every message. The upgrade from free email to professional email has the best cost-to-credibility ratio of anything on this website.
Frequently asked questions
Can I keep my existing email address and history?
Yes — everything migrates: messages, folders, contacts, calendars. The old address keeps receiving during the switch, so nothing is missed and nothing is lost.
We don't have a domain name — can you sort that?
Yes — we'll register the right domain (and advise on the .co.uk/.com question), connect it to your email, and it's yours permanently, not rented from us.
What are SPF, DKIM and DMARC — do I need them?
They're the DNS records that prove your email is really from you. Without them your mail lands in spam and criminals can spoof your address. We configure all three as standard — many providers quietly don't.
Can several staff share one address like info@?
Yes — shared mailboxes and groups let the whole team work sales@ or accounts@ with full visibility of what's been answered.
What happens to email when someone leaves?
The mailbox stays with the business — forwarded, archived or handed to their replacement. That continuity is precisely what personal-Gmail setups destroy.
How fast can we be live?
New setups: typically same day. Migrations: usually within a day or two, staged so the business never stops receiving email.
Talk it through with a human
Tell us what you run today — we'll scope it honestly, quote it clearly, and tell you if you don't need us yet.