Best AI tools for UK recruitment agencies in 2026
Six AI tools for a small UK recruitment agency, scored on the jobs each covers, set-up, approval, support, a clear price and track record.
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Guides to the admin that eats an agency's week, and reviews of the software that claims to fix it. 56 guides and 2 reviews so far.
Free toolsBest buysQuestions answeredKey factsGlossaryKey datesFees, terms and rebatesAWR, right to work and the Conduct RegulationsScreening, shortlists and schedulingRunning the agency
Free tools
Agency fees: can this one be chargedSeven questions on who pays, what the fee is for and when the worker starts, leading to one of eight outcomes with the section or regulation behind each.Gangmaster's licence: is one needed for this supplyFour questions on the work, the worker's own job, your agency's part and the licence you hold, leading to one of eight outcomes with the rule behind each.HMRC intermediary report details request makerThe HMRC employment intermediary report for 6 July to 5 October 2026 is due by 5 November 2026. Who goes on it, the details to collect, and the penalties.Optional paid service notice maker for candidatesCharging a candidate for finding work is an offence under section 6 of the Employment Agencies Act 1973. What you may charge for, on what notice, and the risk.Admin scorecard for a recruitment agency: the office hours a week that could be prepared by AI and checked by you, job by jobEnter the hours a week a consultant spends on CVs, scheduling, searches and compliance to see which jobs AI could prepare and what stays with them.Agency worker 12-week rule calculator: qualifying weeks counted, breaks that pause and breaks that resetEnter the assignment start and up to three breaks to see the qualifying weeks, the date equal treatment begins, and which breaks paused or reset the clock.Late recruitment fee letter maker: reminder and final noticeWhat an agency can add to an overdue recruitment invoice: interest at 8% over Bank Rate, a fixed £40, £70 or £100, and a reminder and final letter to copy.Interview confirmation email maker: the candidate email, the client email and the file note, ready to sendEnter candidate, client, role, time, format and interviewer to get the candidate email, the client email and a one-line file note, ready to send and print.Permanent placement checklist for agencies24 steps for one permanent placement, from accepted client terms and the first CV to the invoice, late payment interest and the rebate period.Recruitment agency compliance readiness check: ten yes-or-no questions on terms, temps, right to work, AI and late feesTen yes-or-no questions for a small UK recruitment agency on signed terms, transfer fees, the 12-week rule, right to work, sick pay, AI and late fees.Recruitment fee and rebate calculator: the invoice, the rebate scale with dates, and the temp-to-perm windowEnter salary, fee percentage and start date to get the invoice, a rebate table with the date each band ends, and the temp-to-perm window under regulation 10.Right to work check router: which check, what to keep, when to check again, and what a missed check costsPick what the candidate holds and who employs them to get the check to do, what to keep, the follow-up date and the penalty for a missed check.Temp margin calculator: the true cost of an hour with holiday pay, employer NI and pension, and what is left of your charge rateEnter pay rate, hours and charge rate to see the hourly cost with holiday pay, employer National Insurance and pension, and your margin in pounds and percent.Temp-to-perm choice letter maker: extended hire or transfer feeWhen an agency can charge for a client taking a temp on permanently: the eight and fourteen-week limits, the extended-hire choice, and the clause.Temp placement checklist for agencies27 steps for placing a temporary worker, from the Key Information Document and right to work check to the 12-week clock and the transfer fee window.
Best buys
Best AI tools for UK recruitment agencies in 2026
Six AI tools for a small UK recruitment agency, scored on the jobs each covers, set-up, approval, support, a clear price and track record.
Best recruitment CRM and applicant tracking software for UK recruitment agencies in 2026
Seven recruitment CRMs for a five-recruiter UK agency, scored on jobs covered, Capterra UK reviews, a pound price on the vendor's page and UK GDPR tools.
Fees, terms and rebates
Employer National Insurance on a temp under 21: the 0% rate up to £50,270, and what it does to a £13 an hour margin
An agency pays no employer National Insurance on an under-21 temp earning below £967 a week. At £13 an hour a temp aged 21 or over costs £63.60 a week more.
National Minimum Wage from April 2026: the new rates for agency temps and what the rise costs a 100-temp book
The April 2026 rates by age band against last year's, the apprentice rule, and the weekly and yearly cost of the 50p rise on 100 temps working 37.5 hours.
Is there VAT on recruitment agency fees? When you must register, and why a temp desk charges VAT on the wages too
Recruitment fees carry 20% VAT once the agency is registered. The £90,000 threshold, VAT on a temp's whole charge, the flat rate and the nursing exception.
Client not paying a recruitment fee: statutory interest at 11.75%, the fixed £40 to £100, and the two letters to send
What an agency can add to an overdue recruitment invoice: interest at 8% over Bank Rate, a fixed £40, £70 or £100, and a reminder and final letter to copy.
Permanent placement checklist for recruitment agencies: first CV to invoice and rebate period
24 steps for one permanent placement, from accepted client terms and the first CV to the invoice, late payment interest and the rebate period.
Recruitment agency terms of business: the clauses that decide fee disputes, and how to prove the client accepted them
The clauses that decide whether a recruitment fee is paid: introduction, engagement, introduction period, rebate conditions, temp-to-perm, acceptance.
Recruitment fee and rebate calculator: the invoice, the rebate scale with dates, and whether a temp-to-perm fee is chargeable
Enter salary, fee percentage and start date to get the invoice, a rebate table with the date each band ends, and the temp-to-perm window under regulation 10.
Temp margin calculator: the true cost of a temp's hour and what is left of your charge rate
Enter pay rate, hours and charge rate to see the hourly cost with holiday pay, employer National Insurance and pension, and your margin in pounds and percent.
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How ready is your firm for AI? Find out in 3 minutes.Take the 3-minute readiness scorecard
How ready is your firm for AI? Find out in 3 minutes.Take the 3-minute readiness scorecardAWR, right to work and the Conduct Regulations
A 17-year-old temp: the 8-hour day, the 40-hour week, the 30-minute break, and two clients added together
Young workers aged 15 to 17 are capped at 8 hours a day and 40 a week, with hours at every employer added together. Five rotas and a two-client week tested.
Night shifts for agency temps: the 8-hour average over 17 weeks, the free health assessment, and five shift patterns checked
Night workers average no more than 8 hours in 24 over 17 weeks and must be offered a free health assessment. Five 12-hour and 10-hour night patterns tested.
Charging an agency temp for accommodation: the £77.70 weekly offset, and what rent of £110, £140 or £180 does to the pay needed to stay at minimum wage
Accommodation up to £77.70 a week does not count against minimum wage pay; every pound above it does. Four rents worked for a 40-hour temp aged 21 or over.
What notice must a client give a placed employee: one week to 12 weeks by length of service, and what notice pay comes to for five people
The statutory minimum notice a client must give runs from one week to 12 weeks by service. Five placed staff worked through, with notice pay and end dates.
Agency temps and the canteen, car park and crèche: which rights start on day one, which wait for week 13, and what a Christmas closure does to five start dates
A temp can use the canteen, car park and crèche from day one, but equal pay waits 12 weeks. Five start dates worked through a Christmas closure.
Temp rota rest breaks: the 20-minute break, 11 hours' daily rest and 24 hours' weekly rest, checked on a six-shift week
Adults get a 20-minute break after 6 hours, 11 hours between working days and 24 hours off a week: a six-shift rota checked, with one 7h30 gap found.
Statutory Neonatal Care Pay for an agency temp: £194.32 or 90% for up to 12 weeks, and the 7-day count and 68-week window worked on one date
Statutory Neonatal Care Pay is £194.32 or 90% of average weekly earnings, whichever is lower, for up to 12 weeks: £2,331.84 at £300 a week.
Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay for an agency temp: £194.32 or 90% for up to 2 weeks, and the 26-week test worked on one date
Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay is £194.32 or 90% of average weekly earnings, whichever is lower: £388.64 for two weeks at £300 a week.
Statutory Adoption Pay for an agency temp: 90% for 6 weeks, then £194.32 or 90% for 33, and the 26-week test worked on one matching date
Statutory Adoption Pay lasts up to 39 weeks. A temp averaging £300 a week gets £1,620.00 for the first 6 weeks and £6,412.56 for the next 33, £8,032.56 in all.
A temp working 60-hour weeks: the 48-hour average over 17 weeks, and what the opt-out changes, worked
The 48-hour limit is an average over 17 weeks. Here is the arithmetic for a temp on long shifts, and what the written opt-out changes for an agency.
Employers' liability insurance for a recruitment agency: £5 million cover, £2,500 a day if it lapses, worked
GOV.UK says employers' liability cover must be at least £5 million, with a £2,500 fine for each uninsured day. Here is what a lapse costs an agency, day by day.
Statutory Paternity Pay for an agency temp: £194.32 or 90% of earnings, whichever is lower, and the 26-week test worked on one due date
Statutory Paternity Pay is £194.32 or 90% of average weekly earnings, whichever is lower. A temp on £150 a week gets £135.00; the cap bites at £215.91.
Student loan deductions on a £3,000 month: five plan types worked, and why the threshold, not the pay, decides the deduction
Student loan deductions are 9% over the plan threshold, 6% for postgraduate. On £3,000 a month they run from £16.56 to £82.53 depending on the plan.
Statutory Maternity Pay for a pregnant agency temp: who pays, the 26-week test and the qualifying week worked
An agency temp treated as an employee gets Statutory Maternity Pay from the agency. The qualifying week, the 26-week test and 39 weeks of pay worked.
Statutory Sick Pay for agency temps: who pays, when it starts, and whether it ends with the assignment
An agency temp who falls ill can be owed Statutory Sick Pay by the agency. When it starts, how much it is, and why the type of contract decides when it ends.
A temp turns out to be unsuitable: when must a recruitment agency tell the client, and when must it pull the temp?
Regulation 20 of the Conduct Regulations: tell the client the same day or next business day if a temp may be unsuitable, plus a 3-month tail.
Recruitment agency job advert rules in the UK: the seven things Regulation 27 makes every advert prove
What regulation 27 of the Conduct Regulations requires in an agency job advert: your name, temp or perm, hirer authority and, if pay is quoted, three more.
Rolled-up holiday pay for agency temps: when 12.07% is lawful and when it stops being enough
Which temps an agency may pay 12.07% rolled-up holiday pay, what the payslip and KID must show, and why the rate can fall short after 12 weeks.
Can my recruitment agency charge this fee? Seven questions on candidate and transfer fees
Seven questions on who pays, what the fee is for and when the worker starts, leading to one of eight outcomes with the section or regulation behind each.
Do I need a gangmaster's licence for this supply? Four questions for a recruitment agency
Four questions on the work, the worker's own job, your agency's part and the licence you hold, leading to one of eight outcomes with the rule behind each.
Can a recruitment agency charge candidates a fee? What section 6 bans, what you may charge for, and what happens if you get it wrong
Charging a candidate for finding work is an offence under section 6 of the Employment Agencies Act 1973. What you may charge for, on what notice, and the risk.
How much does a gangmaster's licence cost in 2026? The Fair Work Agency fees for agencies supplying food and farm workers
A gangmaster's licence costs £3,490 to apply for and £620 a year to renew at turnover under £1 million. The four fee bands, the VAT rule and a worked year.
Agency worker 12-week rule calculator: when equal treatment starts, and which breaks pause or reset the clock
Enter the assignment start and up to three breaks to see the qualifying weeks, the date equal treatment begins, and which breaks paused or reset the clock.
Employment Rights Act 2025 dates for recruitment agencies: what changed in April 2026, what comes in October and 2027
The Employment Rights Act 2025 dates that touch an agency with temps: day-one SSP and the Fair Work Agency from April 2026, then October 2026 and 2027.
How long must a recruitment agency keep candidate and client records? One year under regulation 29, and the longer clocks on a temp's file
A recruitment agency must keep candidate and client records for at least one year. Where the clock starts, the longer payroll periods and a worked temp file.
IR35 for recruitment agencies: who decides status, what the fee-payer owes, and the umbrella rule since 6 April 2026
IR35 from the agency's side: the client decides status, the agency as fee-payer pays 15% employer NIC, and umbrella PAYE debts can be yours since April 2026.
Key Information Document for agency workers: what regulation 13A says it must contain, a template to copy and the April 2026 change
What regulation 13A says a Key Information Document must contain, a template for a PAYE temp with a worked pay example, and the April 2026 change.
Recruitment agency compliance readiness check: ten yes-or-no questions on terms, temps, right to work, AI and late fees
Ten yes-or-no questions for a small UK recruitment agency on signed terms, transfer fees, the 12-week rule, right to work, sick pay, AI and late fees.
Right to work check router for recruitment agencies: which check, what to keep, when to check again
Pick what the candidate holds and who employs them to get the check to do, what to keep, the follow-up date and the penalty for a missed check.
Temp-to-perm transfer fees: the regulation 10 rules on eight weeks, fourteen weeks and the extended-hire option
When an agency can charge for a client taking a temp on permanently: the eight and fourteen-week limits, the extended-hire choice, and the clause.
Temporary worker placement checklist for agencies: registration to the end of the assignment
27 steps for placing a temporary worker, from the Key Information Document and right to work check to the 12-week clock and the transfer fee window.
Screening, shortlists and scheduling
A candidate has sent a subject access request: the deadline, what a recruitment agency must search and what it can hold back
A candidate asks for everything you hold on them. The one-month deadline worked on real dates, what to search, what to redact and when you may extend.
How much does a DBS check cost for a recruitment agency? The fees from 5 October 2026 and what two umbrella bodies add
DBS fees fall on 5 October 2026: enhanced £41, basic and standard £20, Update Service £15. What uCheck and Care Check add, and when to register directly.
AI CV screening and the ICO's rules: what a recruitment agency has to do before a model reads a candidate's CV
The ICO's expectations for AI in recruitment as six things a small agency does before a model reads a CV, from the DPIA to a human decision.
ChatGPT for recruiters: what a UK agency can paste in, five prompts that need no candidate data, and a one-page AI policy
Which ChatGPT plan trains on what you paste, what a UK recruiter can put in under data protection law, five prompts with no candidate data, and a policy.
Interview confirmation email template for recruiters: the candidate email, the client email and the file note, filled in
Enter candidate, client, role, time, format and interviewer to get the candidate email, the client email and a one-line file note, ready to send and print.
Running the agency
Employment Allowance for a recruitment agency: £10,500 off employer National Insurance, and how many temp-weeks it covers
Employment Allowance cuts employer National Insurance by up to £10,500 in 2026-27. At £13 an hour it is used up after 165 weeks of one temp's pay.
Paying temps for mileage in their own car: 55p for the first 10,000 miles, 25p after, and what happens if the agency pays less or more
Tax-free mileage payments are 55p a mile to 10,000 miles and 25p after. Worked for a temp doing 12,000 miles paid at 40p, 55p and 60p a mile.
Statutory redundancy pay from April 2026: the £751 weekly cap and £22,530 maximum, worked for three staff
Statutory redundancy pay uses age bands, a £751 weekly cap and 20 years of service, so the maximum is £22,530. Worked for three staff in a small agency.
The client has not paid: must a recruitment agency still pay the temp?
Under the Conduct Regulations an agency must pay a temp for work done whether or not the client has paid. What that covers and what it costs.
What must a temp's payslip show? Section 8 of the Employment Rights Act, the hours line, and what an unnotified deduction costs an agency
An hourly temp is owed a payslip showing gross, deductions, net and hours worked, on or before payday. The checklist, and the 13-week repayment exposure.
Does the apprenticeship levy apply to a recruitment agency? The £3 million pay bill test and why temps count
The apprenticeship levy is 0.5% of annual pay bill above £3 million, and agency temps paid through your PAYE count. A worked test for your own agency.
Auto-enrolment for agency temps: who enrols them, when hours cross the trigger and how postponement works
Which party must auto-enrol an agency temp, the 2026/27 weekly triggers in hours, and how a postponement notice handles short bookings.
Employment intermediary report to HMRC: the 5 November 2026 deadline, who goes on it and the £250 penalty
The HMRC employment intermediary report for 6 July to 5 October 2026 is due by 5 November 2026. Who goes on it, the details to collect, and the penalties.
Admin scorecard for recruitment agencies: how many hours a week could AI prepare for a consultant to check, job by job
Enter the hours a week a consultant spends on CVs, scheduling, searches and compliance to see which jobs AI could prepare and what stays with them.
How to start a recruitment agency in the UK: the legal checklist for a perm desk, and what a temp desk adds
No licence is needed for most recruitment agencies in Great Britain. The rules, the £152 of fixed fees, and the extra duties a temp desk brings, in order.
How much does it cost to advertise a job on Reed, Totaljobs and Indeed? The prices on 1 October 2026, read from an agency's side
Job advert prices read from the boards' own pages on 1 October 2026: Reed from £89 plus VAT, Totaljobs £220 after a £69 first advert, Indeed by budget.
Recruitment CRM prices: who publishes them, and what a six-consultant agency pays a year
What UK recruitment CRMs publish about price in 2026: Bullhorn, Vincere and Recruit CRM per-user rates in pounds, Firefish and JobAdder by quote.