SE4, SE6 and SE14 · Deptford, Blackheath and Catford
Lewisham data recovery. Every pattern and product photograph on one laptop. Stop now — restarting costs more.
Lewisham is a borough of makers rather than offices, and the loss that arrives from it, due to the nature of the creative industries it houses, has a particular shape: the single device containing all of the output a sole trader has ever created, such as one laptop or one portable hard drive. Cockpit Deptford holds well over a hundred of these makers in a converted 1960s council building, including jewellers, ceramicists, textile designers, furniture makers and metalworkers, and their files contain a variety of information, including CAD and 3D models ready for casting and CNC, laser and vinyl cutting paths, photography of products and commissioned pieces, e-commerce exports and the records of who commissioned what. The New Cross and Deptford Creative Enterprise Zone, designated in 2018, reports that it has supported 955 businesses, invested £2.65 million in affordable workspace and delivered 35,000 square feet of new space; another 120 creatives are housed at the Mornington Centre, and Acme and Art Hub house many more. Surrounding these are Trinity Laban, situated in the Laban building on Creekside, and The Albany, both of which hold rehearsal and performance recordings; there is Deptford's street trading; Millwall FC play at The Den on Zampa Road; and there is the normal Catford layer of solicitors, accountants and surveyors, along with University Hospital Lewisham, located in SE13 with a trust of almost 7,500 members of staff behind it. Only SE4, SE6 and SE14 belong to Lewisham outright, while Deptford's SE8 area is split three ways between Lewisham, Southwark and Greenwich, and Blackheath is shared between Lewisham and Greenwich. Nothing is collected in this borough, and no counter exists anywhere in Lewisham or in fact in London: obtain a quotation first, via telephone or by completing the provided quotation form, then send the media tracked and insured to our Guildford intake laboratory, or drop it off there yourself, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm (no appointment needed). Assessment is undertaken upon arrival free of charge, and the price is detailed on paper before anything else: cards and sticks cost £250 + VAT, one disk on its own costs £300 + VAT, and multi-disk work starts from £500 + VAT.
Put it to an engineer — the first look costs nothing
0203 0868633
Five jobs that come in from Lewisham.
Different fault? Try the finder →| What is going on | What arrives from here | Where that leaves you |
|---|---|---|
| A maker's laptop that won't pass beyond the logo | All patterns and listing images, held once | Leave it off; obtain a quotation initially; then send the drive separately |
| Studio NAS with one bay showing an amber warning light | Commission records, 3D models and the full photography archive | Disconnect power; obtain a quotation initially; then post the disks identified by bay if you can, otherwise the box exactly as it stands |
| Rehearsal recording equipment unable to read its own disk | A term of rehearsal and performance recordings on a single disk | Remove the disk; leave the recorder; obtain a quotation initially; then post the disk |
| Accounts database in Catford that will not open | Years of client ledgers, timesheets and scanned files | Stop attempting to restart it; call us first on 0203 0868633 |
| Household external drive now producing a clicking noise | Twenty years' worth of personal photographs, with no copies anywhere else | Disconnect the power supply; each spin-up increases the damage |
Four things worth knowing before it is posted.
What Lewisham asks most.
Does this cover Deptford and Blackheath as well as Catford?
Everything. SE4, SE6 and SE14 are entirely within Lewisham (Brockley, Crofton Park, Ladywell, Catford and New Cross), whilst SE8 at Deptford is divided three ways between Lewisham, Greenwich and Southwark, and likewise SE3 at Blackheath is split between Lewisham and Greenwich. None of that changes anything at this end. The Ravensbourne is a borough boundary, it is most definitely not a price list, and we don't pick up any item from any location anyway.
One bay on the studio NAS has gone amber. Do we carry on?
Cut the power to it before anything else. What makes a set that has lost just one disk awkward is that it appears completely normal (files remain accessible, work still saves), so it will continue operating until a second disk stops, at which point the entire system comes crashing down. Don't even begin to attempt a rebuild. First get a quotation, either via telephone or using our quotation request form. Then, if possible, carefully remove the drives one by one, label each with its bay, including the one that stopped, and post the bare disks (without the enclosure or chassis) to our Guildford intake lab, or drop them off there, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm (no appointment required); if you cannot, post us the entire NAS as it stands. All jobs with multiple drives fall into the £500 + VAT band or above.
A commission is due and the files are on it. Can it be hurried?
Two significant differences in treatment occur when a job is booked as urgent. Firstly, imaging takes precedence over all previously queued items. Secondly, rather than being slotted in amongst other bookings, a single engineer works exclusively on the item from beginning to end. When making the booking, ask for the urgent service on 0203 0868633. Once there is sufficient diagnostic evidence to provide a reliable completion date, that date is provided. Available weekdays, 9am to 5:30pm.
Is there a counter for this anywhere in the borough?
There is no counter in Lewisham, and not anywhere in London either. Get a quote first, by either phone call or online through our website's quote request form. Then, if you would like to hand over your drive at our intake lab in Guildford, which is open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm (no need to book an appointment), you can do so as long as the hours suit you, although almost nobody does it that way. The imaging rigs, the donor storage shelves and the benches are all housed together in Guildford and none of that travels; the media does. No charge will be incurred for the assessment on arrival, and the return journey home will also be covered by us.
Begin here if yours is doing the same thing.
Next door to Lewisham, on the same terms
Pack it in Lewisham; the parcel does the rest.
If the machine has stopped or failed during your use of it, do not switch it back on. The most useful thing you can tell us is what the machine was doing in the minutes just before it stopped, so have that ready for the call. You will be able to get a first look free of charge. After that, one figure is produced in writing, and until you have read it and said yes, no chargeable work will be done.