Essential data recovery was actually the third company I sent my hard disk to for recovery. The first 2 I now know were in fact the same guy in Wales marketing himself as 2 different business's. After sending what must have been 20 emails requesting my drive back it finally materialised one day in the post loose in a box with no padding! and missing all of its casing and stickers. I sent "what was left" of my drive to Essential data recovery as a last ditch rescue attempt, they let me know the day they received it that it was obviously in a very bad way and would need so repairs before a recovery would be possible. They explained that the drive should be able to be repaired for £285 in addition to the quoted £165 they charge for the data recovery process. I am annoyed at myself for not doing my research on the first company properly before sending them my drive, as this ultimately nearly lost my data full stop! Thanks for rescuing my situation!