Microsoft 365 for Business UK 2026: Plans, Pricing & Setup Guide

Last updated: March 2026 | Reviewed by: Connection Technologies managed IT team

Choosing the right Microsoft 365 business plan can feel overwhelming. With multiple tiers, add-ons and licensing models, it is easy to overspend or end up with features your team never uses. For UK SMBs the stakes are higher still — you need reliable email, collaboration tools and security that scales without blowing the budget.

This guide breaks down every Microsoft 365 subscription tier available to UK businesses in 2026, compares pricing, explains what each plan includes and shows you how to get the most from your investment. Whether you are migrating from on-premise Exchange, upgrading from a personal plan or switching from Google Workspace, you will find the answers here.

What Is Microsoft 365 for Business?

Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) is a cloud-based productivity and security platform. Instead of buying standalone software licences, your business pays a monthly or annual Microsoft 365 subscription per user that bundles email, office apps, cloud storage, device management and cyber-security tools into a single package.

For businesses, Microsoft offers four core plans — Business Basic, Business Standard, Business Premium and Microsoft 365 Apps for Business — each designed for different team sizes and security requirements. Enterprise plans (E3, E5) are also available for organisations with more than 300 users.

Microsoft 365 Business Plans Compared — 2026 UK Pricing

Below is a side-by-side comparison of the four main Microsoft 365 business plans. All prices are per user per month (annual commitment, excluding VAT).

Prices sourced from Microsoft UK commercial price list, March 2026. Actual cost may vary depending on commitment term and partner discounts.

Which Microsoft 365 Plan Is Right for Your Business?

Microsoft 365 Business Basic — Best for Budget-Conscious Teams

At £4.60 per user per month, Business Basic is the most affordable entry point. You get Exchange Online email with a 50 GB mailbox, Teams for video calls and chat, SharePoint for document collaboration and 1 TB of OneDrive cloud storage per user. The catch: you only get web and mobile versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint — no desktop installs.

Best for: Businesses where staff primarily use web browsers or mobile devices, remote-first teams and organisations that already own perpetual Office licences.

Microsoft 365 Business Standard — The Sweet Spot for Most SMBs

Business Standard adds full desktop Office apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Access, Publisher) to everything in Basic. At £9.40 per user per month, it is the most popular plan among UK small businesses because it covers productivity, email and collaboration without the complexity of enterprise licensing.

Best for: Companies with 5–200 employees who need desktop Office apps, professional email and Teams. This is the plan we recommend to most of our clients.

Microsoft 365 Business Premium — Maximum Security

Premium includes everything in Standard plus a full security stack: Microsoft Intune for mobile device management, Defender for Business for endpoint protection, Entra ID P1 for conditional access and identity protection, and Azure Information Protection for data-loss prevention. At £17.00 per user per month it is a significant step up in cost, but for businesses handling sensitive data it can replace several standalone security tools.

Best for: Regulated industries (finance, legal, healthcare), businesses with BYOD policies and any organisation that takes cyber security seriously.

Microsoft 365 Apps for Business — Desktop Apps Without Email

This plan gives you the full desktop Office suite and 1 TB OneDrive storage but no Exchange email, no Teams and no SharePoint. It is priced the same as Business Standard (£9.40/user/month) and exists for businesses that already have email elsewhere — for example, those using Google Workspace for email but needing desktop Word and Excel.

Microsoft 365 Cost for UK Businesses — What to Budget

The Microsoft 365 cost for a typical UK business depends on the plan and team size. Here is a quick reference:

• 10-person team on Business Standard: £94/month (£1,128/year)
• 25-person team on Business Standard: £235/month (£2,820/year)
• 50-person team on Business Premium: £850/month (£10,200/year)

Buying through a Microsoft partner (also called a CSP — Cloud Solution Provider) rather than directly from Microsoft often unlocks volume discounts, consolidated billing and dedicated support. As a Microsoft partner, Connection Technologies can also bundle your 365 licences with managed IT support, so you get a single monthly invoice and one team to call when something goes wrong.

What Is Included in Every Microsoft 365 Business Plan?

Regardless of the tier you choose, every Microsoft 365 business subscription includes:

• Microsoft Teams — video meetings, chat, channels and phone system integration (except Apps for Business)
• OneDrive for Business — 1 TB cloud storage per user with version history and sharing controls
• SharePoint Online — intranet sites, document libraries and workflow automation (except Apps for Business)
• Microsoft 365 admin centre — centralised user management, licence assignment and security settings
• 99.9% uptime SLA — Microsoft guarantees financially backed availability
• Automatic updates — always on the latest version with no manual patching
• Multi-device access — use on up to five devices per user (PC, Mac, tablet, phone)

Microsoft 365 Admin Centre — Managing Users and Licences

The Microsoft 365 admin centre is where you manage everything: adding and removing users, assigning licences, resetting passwords, configuring security policies and monitoring service health. For businesses without a dedicated IT team, the admin centre can be daunting — there are hundreds of settings across identity, compliance, Exchange and device management.

This is where a managed IT provider adds real value. Rather than learning the admin centre yourself, your provider handles user onboarding, licence optimisation, security configuration and ongoing monitoring. At Connection Technologies, our team manages the admin centre for you as part of our managed IT services, so your staff can focus on their actual jobs.

Microsoft 365 Security — What Business Premium Gets You

Security is the biggest differentiator between Standard and Premium. Here is what the upgrade adds:

• Microsoft Intune — enforce device policies, remotely wipe lost devices and manage BYOD. See our mobile device management guide for more detail.
• Defender for Business — next-generation endpoint protection with automated threat investigation and response. This complements a wider MDR strategy.
• Entra ID P1 (Azure AD Premium) — conditional access policies, multi-factor authentication enforcement and identity risk detection.
• Azure Information Protection — classify, label and protect sensitive documents and emails automatically.
• Intune app protection — prevent data leakage from managed apps even on personal devices.

For businesses that need to meet Cyber Essentials, ISO 27001 or GDPR compliance requirements, Business Premium provides the tooling to satisfy most audit controls out of the box. Pair it with 24/7 SIEM monitoring and you have a robust security posture without a large in-house team.

Migrating to Microsoft 365 — What to Expect

Moving to Microsoft 365 is straightforward when planned properly. A typical migration for a 20–50 person business takes one to two weeks and follows these steps:

1. Audit existing setup — document current email provider, file storage, devices and any legacy applications that depend on Office.
2. Choose the right plan — match features to business requirements (see the comparison table above).
3. Provision the tenant — set up your Microsoft 365 tenant, configure your domain (e.g. yourcompany.co.uk) and create user accounts.
4. Migrate email and data — move mailboxes from your existing provider (Google Workspace, on-premise Exchange, IMAP) with minimal downtime.
5. Deploy apps and policies — install desktop apps, configure security policies and set up Teams channels.
6. Train your team — short onboarding sessions to get staff comfortable with Outlook, Teams and OneDrive.
7. Ongoing management — monitor licence usage, apply updates and adjust security settings as the business evolves.

Connection Technologies handles every step of this process. We have migrated hundreds of UK businesses to Microsoft 365 and our team manages the transition so there is no disruption to your day-to-day operations.

Why Connection Technologies for Microsoft 365

As a Microsoft partner, we do not just sell licences — we provide end-to-end management of your Microsoft 365 environment. Here is what sets us apart:

• UK-based support team — real people in the UK, not offshore call centres. Our helpdesk is available during business hours with emergency out-of-hours cover.
• Transparent pricing — no hidden fees. Your Microsoft 365 licences, support and management are bundled into one predictable monthly cost.
• Proactive management — we monitor your tenant health, licence utilisation and security alerts so issues are resolved before they affect your team.
• Full IT integration — Microsoft 365 is just one part of your IT stack. We also manage your IT support, SIEM security, MDR and business broadband, giving you a single provider for everything.
• Migration expertise — we have moved businesses from Google Workspace, on-premise Exchange, POP/IMAP and legacy Office versions. We know the pitfalls and how to avoid them.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does Microsoft 365 cost for a small business in the UK?

Microsoft 365 Business Basic starts at £4.60 per user per month. Business Standard — the most popular plan — costs £9.40 per user per month. For a 10-person team on Business Standard, expect to pay around £1,128 per year. Buying through a Microsoft partner can reduce costs further through volume discounts.

What is the difference between Microsoft 365 Business Basic and Business Standard?

The main difference is desktop apps. Business Basic gives you web and mobile versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint, while Business Standard includes full desktop installs of the entire Office suite. Both include Exchange email, Teams, SharePoint and 1 TB OneDrive storage.

Do I need Microsoft 365 Business Premium?

If your business handles sensitive data, operates in a regulated industry or has a BYOD policy, Business Premium is worth the upgrade. It adds Intune device management, Defender for Business endpoint protection and Entra ID conditional access — tools that would cost significantly more if purchased separately.

Can I migrate from Google Workspace to Microsoft 365?

Yes. Microsoft provides native migration tools for moving Gmail, Google Drive and Google Calendar data to Exchange Online, OneDrive and Outlook. A managed IT provider like Connection Technologies can handle the entire migration with minimal disruption to your team.

What is the Microsoft 365 admin centre?

The Microsoft 365 admin centre is the web-based dashboard where administrators manage users, licences, security policies and service health. It covers Exchange, Teams, SharePoint, Intune and compliance settings. Many SMBs choose to have their IT provider manage the admin centre on their behalf.

Should I buy Microsoft 365 directly or through a partner?

Buying through a Microsoft CSP partner is usually better value for businesses. You get the same product at the same (or lower) price, plus dedicated support, consolidated billing and expert guidance on configuration and security. Direct purchases from Microsoft come with limited support.

Related Reading

• IT Managed Services for UK Business
• Business IT Support — Proactive RMM Monitoring
• SIEM Security Monitoring — 24/7 Managed SOC
• Managed Detection & Response (MDR)
• Mobile Device Management (MDM) for Business
• Outsourced IT Support UK 2026: Costs, Pros & How to Choose
• HyperCloud Hosted VoIP