Answers
Employer hiring questions, answered
Straight answers to what UK employers actually ask about hiring cost, timing and recruiters — with our own figures from 46 filled vacancies rather than industry averages.
Choosing a recruiter
- Can I hire without using a recruitment agency?
- How do I choose a recruitment agency?
- How do I find employees for a small business?
- How does agency recruitment work in the UK?
- How does talent recruitment work in the UK?
- What are the best recruitment websites in the UK?
- What does a recruitment agency actually do?
- What is a recruitment specialist? (UK guide) ?
- What is a talent sourcing agency? (UK guide) ?
- What is recruitment support and do I need it? (UK guide) ?
- What is the best recruitment website in the UK? ?
- What is the difference between headhunting and a recruitment agency?
- Where do I start when looking to recruit?
- Which HR recruitment agencies operate in the UK?
Cost and fees
- Do recruitment agencies charge you if you don't hire?
- How much do headhunters charge in the UK?
- How much does it cost to hire someone in the UK?
- Is there VAT on recruitment agency fees?
- What do UK recruitment agencies charge?
- What is a rebate period in recruitment?
- What is a typical recruitment agency fee in the UK?
- What is flat fee recruitment?
employer-brand
- Do we need a careers page if we already advertise on job boards?
- What is employer branding, and does it matter for a small company?
- What should a careers page include?
Job adverts
- How long should a job advert run?
- How much does it cost to advertise a job in the UK?
- Should I put the salary in a job advert?
- Where is the best place to find staff in the UK?
- Why is my job advert getting no applications?
Process and timing
Go deeper
Comparison
Fixed-fee recruitment companies in the UK: who sells what
16 UK fixed-fee recruitment providers compared from their own websites, re-read on 12 October 2026: model, what is included, published terms and sectors.
Cost comparison
Is flat-fee recruitment cheaper than an agency for a £45,000 hire?
Worked figures for a £45,000 UK hire — what a contingency agency bills at 15%, 20% and 25%, what the published flat fees are, what the real difference is once you count your own screening time, and the three situations where the agency is the better buy.
Benchmarks
How long does it take to fill a role in the UK?
The median role we filled took 42 days from brief to close, but the spread runs from 14 to 169 days. The per-sector breakdown, what actually drives the difference, and how to read a time-to-fill promise.