Services
Four tiers. One practitioner. Every fee agreed in writing.
Fixed fees. No day rates. No juniors. No 60-page reports. If a busy HR Director cannot act on the deliverable in 60 seconds, it gets rewritten.
Friction-reduction tier
Payband Micro-Benchmark
£150fixed fee, 2 working days from briefing
The £150 entry point. One role, one geography, one source, one paragraph recommendation. You have one pay decision on your desk this week and you want a defensible number for it.
What the £150 fee covers
- One role, one geography
- One primary data source (ONS ASHE, a published survey, or live market evidence)
- A recommended salary or range, written as one paragraph
- Source link, source date and stated assumptions
What is quoted separately
- Additional sources, multiple roles, video walkthrough, written clarification
- Anything that needs more than one source of evidence is a £750 Benchmark or bigger
The outcome
You stop guessing. You make the pay decision with one defensible number.
Recommendation, one paragraph
Set the Head of Operations salary at £65,000 to £72,000 base, with a documented review at month six against the ONS regional 75th percentile and any new live market evidence you have collected since this report.
Source: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, SOC code 3543, UK and North West region.
View the full samplePayband Benchmark
£750fixed fee, 5 working days from briefing
One UK role, one geography, three independent sources. Board-ready one-page report. Every figure footnoted.
What the £750 fee covers
- One UK role, in one agreed geography
- 3+ independent sources: official or published, sector, current market
- A recommended salary or range, 2 sentences at the top of page 1
- Every figure footnoted with source, source date, assumptions and limitations
- A recorded video walkthrough you can share with your board
- One written clarification round within 5 working days of delivery
Quoted separately
- Additional roles or countries
- Job evaluation or job description rewrites
- Organisation-wide pay equity analysis
- Legal advice (not within scope)
The outcome
You make the pay decision this week with evidence, not guesswork.
Engagement expansion
Payband Build
£2,500fixed fee, 3 to 6 weeks
A defined reward project, built and handed over. Pick one: pay bands, benchmarking refresh, transparency readiness audit, benefits benchmarking, job architecture.
The five shapes a Build can take
- Pay bands for the whole organisation, with method documented so your team maintains them
- Full benchmarking refresh across your roles, board-ready summary
- Pay transparency readiness audit: traffic-lighted position against the EU directive and UK direction, with prioritised action list
- Benefits benchmarking and pay policy: market comparison plus written policy that defends under scrutiny
- Job architecture and skills-based team design: levelling that holds up, including moving from siloed functions to project teams
Retainer
Payband Partner
£8,000fixed fee, 12-month term
A defined decision plan and named reward support, without permanent headcount.
What the £8,000 annual fee covers
- Up to 6 single-role UK Benchmarks during the 12-month term
- One annual pay review cycle: budget modelling, distribution checks, manager guidance
- Quarterly reward reviews with a written decision and risk log
- Written advice on routine pay questions, normally answered within 2 working days
- Pay transparency developments tracked where they affect your UK and EU workforce
- A named adviser who knows your structure, not a ticket queue
2 August 2026 deadline
EU AI Act pack for UK SMEs using HR AI
The EU AI Act becomes fully applicable on 2 August 2026. HR AI is a high-risk category under Annex III. Penalties up to €35 million or 7 percent of global turnover. UK SMEs selling AI to EU customers, using AI in recruitment or operating CV-screening tools are in scope, extraterritorially.
The fixed-fee £79 pack gives you the working documents: 12-page policy covering the four obligations that apply (risk classification, conformity assessment, worker transparency, human oversight), a 4-tab spreadsheet (AI register, conformity tracker, worker disclosures, incident log), and a UK-specific overlay covering UK GDPR Article 22 and the Equality Act 2010.
A £250 done-with-you 1-hour implementation call is available as an upsell for buyers who want help applying the pack to their specific AI register.
Interim and embedded support
Senior reward capability inside your team for a fixed period, when the work is bigger than a project but you do not want a permanent hire.
- Cover for a reward lead on leave, on parental leave, or between hires
- A pay review cycle, transparency programme, or job architecture build run end to end
- Available for interim and contract engagements, UK remote or on site in the North West
Typically 3 to 6 months, day rate or fixed term, agreed up front. Talk about interim cover.
Which one fits
| Micro | Benchmark | Build | Partner | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | One decision, this week | One pay decision, this week | A structure or compliance position | A defined year of reward decisions |
| Fixed fee | £150 | From £750 | From £2,500 | From £8,000 per year |
| Turnaround | 2 working days | 5 working days | 3 to 6 weeks | 2-day advice turnaround |
| Sources | 1 primary | 3+ independent | Project-defined | Included in Benchmarks |
| Deliverable | One paragraph | One-page board report | One-page board report | For included Benchmarks |
| Pay bands | Not included | Not included | Yes | Quoted separately |
| Transparency readiness | Not included | Not included | Audit | Developments tracked |
| Typical buyer | Founder pricing one role | Founder or COO making an offer | HR director without a reward team | Firm with EU exposure or 100+ headcount |
The standing rule on every tier: the fee is agreed in writing before work starts and does not move. If a deliverable cannot be acted on in 60 seconds, it gets rewritten before it gets sent.
FAQ
Service questions, answered.
Why is the £150 Micro cheaper than a recruiter's one-day fee?
The Micro uses one published source, not three, and produces one paragraph, not a one-page report. It is the right shape for the right kind of pay decision: a single role, a single market data point, a defensible number. If you need triangulation across sources, a Benchmark is the right tier.
What if my board asks for a second opinion?
The Benchmark includes a recorded video walkthrough you can replay or share. If you want a fresh look at a different role or a different data point, that is quoted separately as a second Benchmark. The recommendation does not change to suit the outcome.
Can I get a fixed quote without a call?
Yes. Send four lines (role, organisation, headcount, deadline). Reply by return with a fixed quote and a start date. The whole process is email-first. A call is offered if you want one but is never required.
What if the scope changes mid-engagement?
The fee is fixed for the agreed scope. If new scope comes up, it is quoted separately as an extension. No surprise invoices. No day-rate creep.
Do you work with firms outside the UK?
UK employers, yes. UK employers with EU workforce, yes. EU-based employers, yes via the EU Pay Transparency Directive work. Outside Europe, by arrangement. Reply with the country and the question and I will tell you honestly whether it is the right fit.
Ready to brief?
Send four lines: the role or pay question, your organisation and rough headcount, the countries involved, your deadline. Reply with a fixed quote and a start date within one working day.
Send a brief