Depending on what you are making, also consider cnc water jet cutting. I got aquote of just £15 to cut a steering wheel blank with drilled spokes from 6mm ally plate supplied by me. This was a one-off enquiry too and no 'mates rates' involved.
i don't know if the finished cut would match the precision of laser however.
I had a pair of side screens cut from stainless sheet using cnc laser, very impressive but costly (admittedly that was probably largely material cost as they were supplying the sheet) but the precision was incredible. 3mm bolt holes produced a gentle sliding interference fit as I put the screws in, I could not have bettered it with a reamer. Only very minor deburring required to knock off sharp edges.
the guy gave me the computer print out which gave length of cut, time on machine, size of sheet required and weight of finished item along with cost.
both of these firms were smaller specialists on industrial estates in Dorset using files I had drawn in AutoCAD and emailed to the company. The files required no additional work before use.