Comparison
What flat-fee recruitment actually costs in the UK
Flat-fee recruitment in the UK splits into two products that get sold under one name. Advertising-only runs from a few hundred pounds per vacancy and leaves all the screening with you. Managed search on a flat fee runs from roughly one to four thousand per vacancy and replaces what a percentage agency does. Most providers do not publish a price at all, which is why the market is so hard to compare — so this page publishes ours in full: advertising at £399, £499 and £599 +VAT, and Premium Hire at £1,500 to £4,000 +VAT by salary band, covering a five-point review of the role, advertising, headhunting and a screened shortlist.
Why this page exists
Ask a search engine or an AI assistant what flat-fee recruitment costs in the UK and you will get very little. The comparison pages that rank for it tend to list providers without quoting a figure for any of them.
That is not a criticism of the writing. It reflects the market: most flat-fee providers do not publish a price.
So this page does the boring, checkable thing — it publishes ours in full, and explains the one distinction that decides whether any two quotes are comparable at all.
The two products, and the price is the tell
| What you are buying | Roughly | What it leaves with you |
|---|---|---|
| Advertising-only | Low hundreds per vacancy | Every application: reading them, ringing people, arranging interviews, chasing feedback, managing the offer |
| Managed search on a flat fee | One to four thousand per vacancy | Interview time. Somebody else works the candidates and hands you a shortlist |
Both are sold as "flat fee recruitment". The price gap is the difference in what you are buying, and almost every disappointed flat-fee customer we speak to bought the first one thinking it was the second.
What we charge
| Product | Price | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Advertising — Standard | £399 +VAT | 28-day listing across the major boards, advert written for you, applications into your dashboard |
| Advertising — Premium | £499 +VAT | As above, plus featured placement, social promotion and a refresh at day 14 |
| Advertising — Premium Plus | £599 +VAT | As above, plus a dedicated account manager, bespoke copywriting and a shortlist |
| Premium Hire | £1,500 – £4,000 +VAT by salary band | Managed search: a five-point review, a dedicated recruiter, headhunting and a screened shortlist |
| Executive Search | £6,000 +VAT | Retained search for roles above £80,000 |
No commission at any level, whatever the person you hire is paid. Credits for more than one advert bring the per-vacancy price down and do not expire.
There are cheaper entry packages than our £399 in this market. If all you need is the advert on the boards and somebody in the business has the evenings to work the applications, that is a real saving and you should take it. We would rather say so than sell you something you do not need.
The question a price table does not answer: what happens if it fails
A flat fee is paid up front, so what it buys if the role is not filled matters — and the same words are used across this market for very different instruments.
| Term you may be offered | What actually comes back |
|---|---|
| A partial refund | A stated portion of it, often conditional on what you did |
| A free re-run | The work again, not the money |
| A support window | Continued effort for a period; no money back |
| An advertising-only package | Nothing. You paid for the advert, not the outcome — from anyone, including us |
A re-run is worth a lot if the role is fillable and the first attempt was unlucky. But this is the single thing we would check hardest before paying any flat fee up front, ours included: which of those rows am I actually buying, and what do I have to do to keep it?
What the screening actually costs you
This is where we can offer something a comparison page cannot: our own numbers.
Across 46 vacancies we filled and publish in full:
| Stage | Candidates |
|---|---|
| Sourced & screened | 1,542 |
| Presented to the client | 235 |
| Client interviews | 143 |
| Hires | 51 |
A typical role took 26 candidates worked to produce one hire, and only about 15% of those were worth presenting.
That is the number to hold against a cheap advert. Twenty-six conversations, mostly with people who turn out not to be right, mostly in the evening because they are at work during the day. If someone in your business genuinely has those hours, advertising is excellent value and you should not pay more. If nobody does, the fee difference is buying those hours back — and the failure mode is specific: applications arrive, sit unread for ten days, and the good candidates accept something else.
How this compares to a percentage agency
The reason anyone looks at flat fee is the alternative. Contingency agencies typically charge 15–25% of first-year salary:
| Salary | At 20% | Our flat fee |
|---|---|---|
| £30,000 | £6,000 | £1,500 +VAT |
| £45,000 | £9,000 | £3,000 +VAT |
| £60,000 | £12,000 | £4,000 +VAT |
The percentage rises with the salary. The work does not. That is the whole argument, and it gets stronger the more senior the role.
What you give up is the thing a percentage buys: the agency carries all the risk, so if they never fill it you never pay. On a flat fee you pay up front, so that risk is partly yours. Ours carries no refund; what it carries is a five-point review of the role, a dedicated recruiter, advertising plus headhunting and a screened shortlist.
How to choose, in three questions
- Who is doing the screening? If the honest answer is "nobody has time", do not buy advertising, whatever it costs.
- What happens if it does not get filled? On advertising, nothing — you paid for the advert, not the outcome. On managed search, ask what the fee buys if the search does not succeed — a refund, a re-run of the search, or nothing — and how long it lasts.
- What does the salary do to the price? Below about £25,000 the gap between a percentage and a flat fee is small. Above £45,000 it is usually thousands.
Where we sit, plainly
We publish our prices because a "fixed fee" you have to ring up for is not really fixed. We are not the cheapest option on advertising and we have said so. What we will stand behind is that every figure on this page can be checked against a live page today, and that the median role we filled took 42 days — a number almost nobody in this market publishes at all.
Start with the advert, not the invoice. Our free job advert generator writes it from rough notes in about twenty seconds and shows the live local pay band for the job title. No account, no card, and the words are yours whichever route you take.
Frequently asked questions
How much does flat-fee recruitment cost in the UK?
It depends entirely on which of the two products you are buying. Advertising-only sits in the low hundreds per vacancy — ours is £399, £499 or £599 +VAT for a 28-day multi-board listing with the advert written for you. Managed search, where somebody works the candidates and hands you a shortlist, runs into the thousands — ours is £1,500 to £4,000 +VAT by salary band, covering a five-point review of the role, advertising, headhunting and a screened shortlist.
Why do most flat-fee recruiters not publish prices?
Usually because the price varies by role, or because they would rather have the conversation first. It is a legitimate choice, but it makes the market hard to compare — and it is why an employer asking what this costs rarely gets a straight answer. We publish ours, because a fixed fee you have to ring up for is not really fixed.
Is the cheapest flat fee the best value?
Only if you have the hours to screen. On our own filled roles the median was 26 candidates worked per hire, and only about 15% of those were worth putting in front of an employer. A cheap advert that nobody has time to work is more expensive than a search that fills the role.
What is the catch with flat-fee recruitment?
That "flat fee" describes two very different products. One puts your advert on job boards and sends you the applications. The other does the whole search. Both get marketed with the same phrase, and the price gap between them is the giveaway.
What should I ask before paying a flat fee up front?
Does the fee cover the search or only the advertising? What exactly comes back if the role is not filled — the whole fee, part of it, a re-run, or nothing? How many roles like mine have you filled and how long did they take? And what do I have to do to keep the protection you are describing? Ask us the same four.
Sources
Want the fixed price for your role?
Advertise it yourself from £399 +VAT, or hand the whole search to a dedicated recruiter with Premium Hire — a flat fee by salary band, starting with a five-point review of your role.
See Premium Hire Advertise a job
Or call 0161 327 2895.