Self Hosted AI London: Keep Control, Skip the Day Rate
Self-hosting in London means either a member of staff who becomes the AI server person, or a contractor at London rates on a retainer. This is the version where the machine sits in your office and neither of those happens.
£500 per month for the software and the hardware rental. You rent the machine — you don’t buy it.
Self hosted AI in London means AI running on hardware you control at your own premises rather than a provider’s cloud. Ours is a machine rented to you, installed at your London office, running open-weight models with chat, document search and assistants. The data is yours; we install, update, back up and support it.
Keep the control, lose the admin
A short call on what you want to control and what you want handled. If you have the person to run it yourself, we will say so.
One rented machine at your London premises. Models, documents and chat history live on it; we keep it running.
Cloud Agents for the Phone and Inbox, Local AI for the Files
Many London businesses pair the two: hosted agents answering calls and sorting email from day one, and a Local AI machine on site for anything that must not leave the office.
- ☁ Cloud-based AI Receptionist
- ☁ Cloud-based Email Manager
- ☁ Cloud-based Leads Outreach
- 🏢 On-premise Local AI
What Self Hosting AI Actually Involves
Self-hosting is attractive for one reason — control — and off-putting for one reason — upkeep. Here is the upkeep for London firms, itemised.
| The job | Self-host it yourself | Self-hosted with us |
|---|---|---|
| Choose the hardware | You research and buy it; hope it runs the model | Specified for your team, rented to you, not sold |
| Install the model and the tools | Your IT person, evenings and weekends | Done by us, in London |
| Connect access control | Build it, or share a login | Your Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace sign-in |
| Backups and a replacement plan | If you remember | Agreed before go-live, run by us |
| Updates and model upgrades | You, testing each one | Us, with you, as part of support |
| Who controls the machine and owns the data | You | You |
What Control Buys a London Firm, and What It Costs to Keep
London firms that ask about self-hosting usually have a specific reason: an IT policy that says no new cloud services, a client whose engagement letter forbids third-party processing, or a partner who wants to be able to point at the box. All of those are answered by a machine at the firm’s own premises, on its own network, running the model locally. The reason self-hosting then stalls is the second half: who keeps it running, and at what London rate.
Self-hosting is a list of jobs. Specify the hardware and be right about it. Install the model runtime and the tools around it. Wire up access control. Import the documents. Arrange backups and a replacement plan. Apply updates and test model upgrades. Be the person the office rings when it stops. In London that list lands either on a member of staff who did not join to run servers, or on a contractor whose day rate makes every update a line on an invoice.
Our arrangement keeps the control and takes the list. The machine is rented to you, not sold, and it sits in your office. Models, documents and chat history live on it, and the only outside connection is your own Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace sign-in. You decide who has access, what is retained and when a model upgrade happens. We specify, install at your premises — checking network segmentation first in serviced offices — back up, update and support, under a data processing agreement covering exactly the access you grant.
If you genuinely have the person — a technical partner, an in-house IT lead who would enjoy it — we will say so on the call, because the open-weight ecosystem is good and self hosting AI yourself is a reasonable choice for the firm that has them. Our offer is for the London firm that wants the control without inheriting the maintenance.
What Runs on the Machine in Your Building
Control stays with you, and the machine is rented, not sold. The list of what ships is the same for every client, because the product is the same.
Private chat
A ChatGPT-style assistant for the team, on your own machine. Questions, uploads, drafts — none of it going to an outside service.
Document spaces
Files and correspondence organised into spaces. Search, summarise and compare across hundreds of documents, with citations to the page each answer came from.
Custom assistants
The recurring report, the standard memo, the routine check — built around your workflows and running on the same machine.
| Document | What a London team asks for | What stays where |
|---|---|---|
| Client files under restrictive engagement terms | Search, summarise, draft against | On the machine, in your office |
| Cross-border matter correspondence | A chronology or summary, cited to the page | On the machine, in your office |
| Contracts and agreements | What clause 14 says; the differences between versions | On the machine, in your office |
| Patient or client correspondence | A draft reply in your wording | On the machine, in your office |
| Internal policies and templates | Find it, cite it, draft from it | On the machine, in your office |
| Your practice, case or CRM system | Not connected — remains the system of record | Your existing system |
Three Steps From Wanting to Self-Host to Running It at Your London Premises
Weeks, not months. Most London clients start with one team — one practice area, one department — and widen from there.
Size and check the site
A short call on who will use it and what it will read. We specify the machine and, for serviced offices and shared buildings, check how the network is arranged.
Install at your premises
The machine goes on your network anywhere in Greater London. Single sign-on connects to your Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace and your documents are imported into spaces.
Train on site, then support
We train the people using it at your office, then keep the software updated and the models current, with support from the people who did the install.
Where Local AI Is the Wrong Answer
We would rather lose the enquiry than the trust. Three things we tell every prospect before they sign anything.
It is not the answer if you have the person
If London firms already employ someone who runs servers and would enjoy running this one, self-hosting it yourself is a reasonable choice. Our arrangement is for the ones that do not.
It is slower than the big cloud models
Open-weight models on a single machine are capable for summarising, drafting and answering questions about your own documents. For frontier reasoning on hard, novel problems, the largest cloud models are still ahead. That is the trade.
It is a weeks-long install, not a sign-up
A cloud agent is live in days. Local AI needs the machine specified, delivered, installed on your network and your documents imported. Weeks, not months — but not tomorrow.
We Self-Host Our Own
Control is real
The machine is rented to you, but it runs on your network, in London, under your access rules. Nothing about the arrangement makes you dependent on our servers.
Upgrades on your schedule
A new model changes the answers your team relies on, so model upgrades happen with you, not to you.
Backups agreed up front
Schedule and replacement arrangement settled before go-live, as part of support, not as an afterthought.
One DPA, narrowly drawn
We are a processor only for the support access you grant, under UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, with the ICO as regulator.
Which Page Answers Your London Question
| If your question is… | The short answer | Read more |
|---|---|---|
| The general case for self-hosting | The job list, and who does each item | Self-hosted AI |
| We want the Local AI overview for London | The head page for the capital | Local AI London |
| What exactly is installed? | One machine, on site, supported | On-Premises AI London |
| Which model would we host? | An open-weight local LLM, matched to the job | Local LLM London |
| We are a City law firm | Self-hosted, with the COLP in the room | Self-Hosted AI for solicitors |
| We are in Manchester, not London | Self-hosted AI across Greater Manchester | Self-Hosted AI Manchester |
| Why on-premises at all? | The case for Local AI, in full | Local AI product page |
Self-Hosting AI in London: Common Questions
What is self hosted AI?
AI models running on hardware you control, in London, rather than on a provider’s servers. Your prompts, documents and chat history stay on that machine. With ours the machine is rented to you and we handle the install, updates and support.
What does self hosting AI involve if we do it ourselves?
Choosing and buying hardware, installing the model runtime and the tools around it, connecting access control, importing documents, arranging backups, applying updates, testing model upgrades, and being the person everyone rings when it stops. A standing IT job, not a weekend project.
Do we own the machine outright?
No. It is specified for your team, rented to your firm and installed by us at your London premises, on your network in your building. There is no hardware to buy; the documents, chat history and data on it are yours, and updates, model upgrades, backups and support are included.
Is self-hosting cheaper than a cloud AI subscription for a London firm?
Different shape rather than simply cheaper: £500 per month for the software and the hardware rental, instead of per-seat subscriptions. The machine is rented, not sold, so there is no hardware to buy up front. The deciding factor for most London firms is not the price but where the data goes.
Do you install on site in London?
Yes. The machine is specified after a short call, then installed on your network at your premises anywhere in Greater London. We connect your existing Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace sign-in, import your documents and train your team on site.
We are in a serviced office. Does that matter?
It is worth raising early. The machine sits on your own network segment, and in a shared building we check how that network is arranged before the install. A question for the first call, not a blocker.
Control It at Your London Office, Without Running It
Tell us what made you want to self-host and who would maintain it today. We will say which jobs you should keep and which we should take.
Prefer email? sghaith@businessaiagents.co.uk