Martyn Butler, founder · Updated 24 September 2026 · 6 minute read
The three options
- A freelance VA: somebody you find and engage directly, often through a job board or marketplace.
- A managed VA: a VA recruited, contracted, paid and supervised by a company like ours, working for you.
- A UK hire: an employee on your payroll, in the office or at home.
Side by side
| Freelance VA | Managed VA | UK hire | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who finds and vets them | You | The provider | You, or a recruiter |
| Who holds the contract and pays them | You | The provider | You, through payroll |
| Cover when they are off | Your problem | Arranged by the provider | Your problem |
| If it does not work out | You start again | The provider replaces them | A process, then you start again |
| Day-to-day direction | You | You, with support | You |
| Employer National Insurance | None | None: it is the provider's fee | 15% on pay above £5,000, up from 13.8% in April 2025 |
| Sick pay | You pay for hours worked | Depends on the provider (with us, hours worked only) | Statutory sick pay, from you |
| Employment disputes | Low, if they are genuinely self-employed | Not with you: they are contracted to the provider | Yours, including tribunal risk |
| Cost per hour | Lowest | Higher than freelance, well below UK | Highest |
When a freelancer is the right answer
If you have hired and managed people before, have time to recruit properly, and want the lowest hourly cost, go direct. You carry the vetting, the contract, the pay and the risk of starting again, and for plenty of owners that is a fair trade.
When a UK hire is the right answer
Some work needs somebody in the room: viewings, inspections, a front desk. Some needs the whole UK working day with no gap. Some is regulated in ways that make an offshore arrangement hard. For that work, hire in the UK, and do it with the full cost in view: salary, employer National Insurance (15% on pay above £5,000 since April 2025), pension, holiday, statutory sick pay and cover, the time it takes to recruit, and the risk of a tribunal if it goes wrong.
When a managed VA is the right answer
If the work is repeatable and done on a screen, and you want it done without becoming a recruiter and an HR department, a managed VA sits between the two. You direct the work; somebody else carries the recruiting, the contract, the pay, the cover and the replacement.
What to ask any provider
- How do you test people before I meet them?
- Who is the VA's contract with, and who pays them?
- What happens when they are ill or on holiday?
- What happens if it is not working after a month?
- Who owns the procedures we write together, if the VA leaves?
- When do I pay, and what am I committed to?