HR Outsourcing providers across the UK

What hr outsourcing covers, and what it does not

What hr outsourcing costs

How it is priced: Per employee per month, on a fixed-fee contract with a minimum term. Small employers typically see £150-£600 a month in total, depending on headcount, city and whether tribunal cover is bundled in.

What moves the price

• Headcount, and whether the price is banded or truly per head
• Whether employment tribunal representation and insurance sit inside the fee
• Named adviser versus a shared advice line
• On-site attendance for hearings, and how travel is billed
• Contract term: three to five years is common and is the main negotiating lever

Ranges are indicative of what UK employers commonly pay and are not quotes. City pages carry local bands where they differ.

Who hr outsourcing suits

Questions to ask before you sign

1. 1What is the minimum term, the notice period, and does the contract auto-renew?
2. 2Is tribunal representation included, insured, or charged separately?
3. 3Do I get a named adviser, and what happens when they are unavailable?
4. 4Are documents drafted for my situation or supplied as templates I complete?
5. 5Who owns my contracts and handbook if I leave at the end of the term?
6. 6What is the response time commitment on an urgent call?

Key terms

Retained fee

A fixed recurring charge covering an agreed scope, rather than time billed as used.

Advice line SLA

The provider's promised response time and whether you reach the same adviser each call.

Auto-renewal

A clause rolling the contract into a fresh term unless you give notice in a defined window. Diarise it.

Cities with the most HR outsourcing providers

• Birmingham8
• Sheffield8
• Manchester7
• Glasgow7
• Liverpool7
• Bristol7
• Edinburgh7
• Leeds6

HR Outsourcing by city - England

• London5
• Birmingham8
• Manchester7
• Leeds6
• Liverpool7
• Bristol7
• Sheffield8
• Newcastle upon Tyne6

HR Outsourcing by city - Scotland

• Glasgow7
• Edinburgh7

HR Outsourcing questions employers ask

What is hr outsourcing?

HR outsourcing means an external provider runs all or part of your people function on a retained contract. You get contracts and a handbook, an advice line, and casework support instead of employing an HR manager. Most UK contracts are fixed-fee, priced per employee per month, and sold on a multi-year term.

How much does hr outsourcing cost in the UK?

Per employee per month, on a fixed-fee contract with a minimum term. Small employers typically see £150-£600 a month in total, depending on headcount, city and whether tribunal cover is bundled in. The figures move most on: headcount, and whether the price is banded or truly per head; whether employment tribunal representation and insurance sit inside the fee; named adviser versus a shared advice line. Always compare quotes on what is inside the fee rather than the headline number.

What is included in hr outsourcing, and what is not?

Normally included: contracts of employment and a staff handbook, kept updated; unlimited telephone and email advice on day-to-day people issues; casework support on discipline, grievance, absence and performance; letter and document templates for each stage of a process. Normally excluded or charged separately: payroll processing, unless you buy it as a separate module; recruitment and candidate sourcing; tribunal representation, in many contracts an add-on or an insured product.

Who should buy hr outsourcing?

Employers of roughly 5 to 250 staff with no internal HR, or a single HR person carrying more casework than one person can absorb. It is also a sensible fit where the risk of getting a dismissal wrong outweighs the annual fee. It is a poor fit for the opposite case: organisations with an established HR team who need occasional specialist input. A retainer duplicates what you already have; a day-rate consultant or standalone employment law cover is cheaper.

What should I ask before signing?

Five questions worth asking every provider on your shortlist: What is the minimum term, the notice period, and does the contract auto-renew? Is tribunal representation included, insured, or charged separately? Do I get a named adviser, and what happens when they are unavailable? Are documents drafted for my situation or supplied as templates I complete? Who owns my contracts and handbook if I leave at the end of the term?

How many HR outsourcing providers are in this directory?

20 of the 96 providers we researched offer hr outsourcing: 10 operate UK-wide, 7 cover a region, and 3 work mainly around one city. National firms are easier to buy from anywhere; local firms are usually easier to get into the room for a hearing.

Do UK employers legally have to have HR?

No. There is no legal requirement to employ an HR person or buy HR support. The duties themselves are not optional: written particulars of employment, statutory pay, working time records, pension auto-enrolment and a fair process before dismissal all apply from the first employee. Most small employers buy support because the cost of one badly handled dismissal exceeds the annual fee.