When your technology fails, who you gonna call? The TechGuys, or so Dixons Stores Group, owners of Dixons.co.uk, PC World and Currys, hopes. 

The TechGuys is a support service for a variety of consumer electronics devices which DSG is offering to all-comers, regardless of whether they bought the equipment through a DSG store or not.

TechGuys provides a menu of chargeable services from telephone support to drop-in local tech clinics and home visits. 

"We are creating a national support operation to help customers navigate their way around the digital universe," said John Clare, group chief executive at DSG International.

"The forthcoming national digital TV switchover programme, combined with the rapid development of digital technology, will have a huge effect on every home in the UK and create an unparalleled level of demand for expert technical advice."

Two grades of telephone support are offered: a general enquiries line financed by a national call rate (0845) number; and a PC helpline charged at £1.50 a minute. The latter is a rebranding of PC World's current PC phone support.

Hands-on support such as drop-in clinics and home visits are priced from £10 upwards on a no-fix, no-fee basis.

DSG claims that TechGuys could make 16,000 home visits a week. The company has 3,000 technical advisors, Europe's biggest technical information database, a warehouse of two million components and a network of specialist repair centres to support the service.

Tech support is already a £1bn a year industry, according to Clare, who expects it to double in value over the next five years.

According to DSG's research, 79 per cent of UK adults routinely require help with technology-related tasks, and 67 per cent have thrown away recalcitrant devices without trying to repair them.

TechGuys launches initially in the UK with the potential to roll out in other European countries.

DSG expects to invest £50m in The TechGuys over the next five years " dependant on suitable returns", aiming to open 200 standalone service locations in the UK and service points at 150 PC World stores, as well as a number of concessions, creating potentially 2,000 new jobs.