Our story
Because a small business should be able to hire a good person without handing a fifth of their first-year salary to an agency — and without being left alone with a job board and a pile of CVs.
The problem
When we started in 2016, an employer who needed to hire had two choices, and both were bad for most businesses.
The first was a recruitment agency. Agencies charge a percentage of the salary — typically 15% to 20% — so the fee rises with the salary even though the work does not. For a company hiring its fifth or tenth employee, a single hire could cost more than a month of that person's wages before they had done a day's work.
The second was to go it alone: buy a job board advert, receive a few hundred applications, and lose evenings sifting them. Cheap on paper, expensive in time, and no one to call when the shortlist was empty.
The maths that started it: a £35,000 hire through a 20% agency costs £7,000. The same role on Premium Hire (£30,000 – £44,999) is a flat £2,000 +VAT, with no commission.
The answer
One company, two ways to hire, and the same rule behind both: you know the price before you start, and it never moves.
We write the advert — or you draft it yourself in our ATS — and put it on the major job boards for a flat fee per vacancy. You approve the copy, and most adverts are live the next working day. Applications come straight to you. No commission when you hire.
A dedicated recruiter advertises, headhunts, screens and shortlists for a fixed fee set by salary band, never a percentage of salary.
How we work
A flat fee, quoted up front, that does not change with the salary the candidate accepts. No commission, no percentage, no surprise invoice.
On Premium Hire one fixed fee, set by salary band before we start, covers a five-point review of the role, a dedicated recruiter, advertising plus headhunting and a screened shortlist. The fee does not move with the salary you agree, and there is no commission when you hire.
Our case studies show the real pipeline for each placement — how many candidates were worked, how many reached the client and how long it took — anonymised so no client is named.
If advertising alone will fill your role, we say so and charge the smaller fee. If it will not, we say that too. The wrong product costs everyone.
Every figure is computed from our own placement records and the review sites we can point you to — nothing here is a marketing estimate.
Across 18 sectors, each one showing how many candidates were worked, how many reached the client and how long it took.
The full funnel behind those placements, from sourcing to the signed offer. The fastest fill took 14 days.
Time to fill is the only date we publish — no client is ever named.
Independent reviews from employers who have used us, verified on 2026-09-05.
Independent reviews from employers who have used us, verified on 2026-09-05.
Independent reviews from employers who have used us, verified on 2026-09-06.
Who we are
We are a Preston-based team of recruiters and sales advisors working with employers across the UK and Ireland, in engineering, finance, legal, construction, care and the trades.
TalentFinder UK is the trading name of Cameron Clarke Associates Limited, company number 09975494, incorporated on 28 January 2016. Our Irish employers are served through talentfinder.ie.
99 Fishergate, Preston PR1 2AE · 0161 327 2895 · 01772 886799
A 15-minute call is enough to tell you which of the two routes fits your role and exactly what it will cost.
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