Thank you!
We will contact you shortly.
RECRUITMENT. WITHOUT THE RANSOM.
We were marketers before we became recruiters, so we get what it's like being held hostage by high recruitment fees. That's why we built a model that actually works for hiring companies.
Complete transparency. No inflated fees. Simple hourly billing.
HOW WE COMPARE TO STANDARD RECRUITMENT AGENCIES
EXAMPLE
Head of Marketing, £75,000 salary
Standard Agency20 - 25% fee = £15,000 - £18,750
Time to Hire 50 hrs (see pricing for details) = £6,250
Save up to £12,500
RECRUITMENT. WITHOUT THE RANSOM.
We were marketers before we became recruiters, so we get what it's like being held hostage by high recruitment fees.
That's why we built a model that actually works for hiring companies.
Complete transparency. No inflated fees. Simple hourly billing.
HOW WE COMPARE TO STANDARD RECRUITMENT AGENCIES
EXAMPLE
Head of Marketing, £75,000 salary
Standard Agency20 - 25% fee = £15,000 - £18,750
Time to Hire 50 hrs (see pricing for details) = £6,250
Save up to £12,500!
Let's face it, recruitment is ludicrously expensive.
Speak to enough business owners and a pattern soon emerges. Whether it's true or not, a common perception about recruitment agencies is: they're expensive, and the value doesn't always match the fee.
Whilst there are some great recruiters out there (we like to think we're pretty good) - the traditional recruitment model has structural problems that even the best recruiters can't escape: high placement fees, vague processes, and short warranties that leave you exposed.
What do they even do for 20%?
Hiring companies often have very little visibility of what's happening between briefing an agency and receiving a shortlist. At the end of it all, a five-figure invoice arrives - the same whether the process was thorough, or not.
The problem often isn't the work - it's the lack of clarity. When clients can't see what's happening, it's easy to assume not much is. And if we're being honest, that assumption isn't always wrong - stereotypes exist for a reason and in recruitment they're often well earned.
The industry has a habit of letting the fee do the talking, without the process to back it up - leaving clients to feel they're paying for something they could do themselves.
The recruitment industry doesn't want you to know this, but you've been paying over the odds for years.
Somewhere along the way, the recruitment industry managed to convince us all that a 20 - 25% placement fee was simply "the way things work". It isn't. It never was. It's just what we've been conditioned to accept.
Of course, plenty will argue that you're paying to access their "exclusive network" or that you're paying for their experience. Sometimes that's true. But the uncomfortable truth that nobody really wants to talk about is that incentives in the traditional recruitment model are fundamentally misaligned.
The search for your key hire, becomes a numbers game.
Agency recruiters are targeted. They're measured on how many CV's they send out each week, how many candidates have interviewed, how many placements they've made. They have to bill enough to cover their cost to the agency. The pressure to hit numbers is real - and it shapes behaviour, whether they intend it to or not.
The more CV's in circulation, the more interviews booked, the closer they are to their target. Speed and volume are rewarded. Patience and precision often aren't. It's all about getting to a point that triggers a transaction.
At Time to Hire, we're not powered by commission and desperation.
Our only incentive is to find the perfect person for your business. And with our dedicated process tracker, you'll know exactly what's happening and when - 24/7, with a breakdown showing time spent on activities, so you can see where your budget and our time is being invested.
We want you involved at every stage of the process - from briefing and job advert through to sourcing, screening, shortlisting, interviews and managing the offer. Every candidate is thoroughly assessed, and nothing gets waved through.
We specialise in creative, digital and marketing, and because we've worked in many of the roles we recruit for, we understand what good looks like far beyond a well-written CV. We evaluate every candidate through a hiring manager lens - if we were building our own team, would we hire them? If not, why would we put them in front of you?
There's a better way.
No more inflated placement fees.
We charge a fixed rate of £125 per hour, regardless of the level of role. The higher the salary, the more you save.
NO HIDDEN FEES - our hourly rate includes things like marketing, travel to meet you (and candidates) and tech.
We'll recommend hours required for your search at the outset during discovery.
If we get the estimate wrong and the search takes a little longer? We'll absorb up to 20% extra time with no extra fee, to get your role over the line.
That's skin the game.
EXAMPLE: Marketing Manager
Salary: £50,000
Agency @ 20 - 25%: £10,000 - 12,500
Time to Hire: 40 hrs @ £125 = £5,000 + VAT
POTENTIAL SAVING: £5,000 +
EXAMPLE: Head of Marketing
Salary: £75,000
Agency @ 20 - 25%: £15,000 - £18,750
Time to Hire: 50 hrs @£125 = £6,250 + VAT
POTENTIAL SAVING: £8,750 +
EXAMPLE: Chief Marketing Officer
Salary: £120,000
Agency @ 20 - 25%: £24,000 - £30,000
Time to Hire: 80 hrs @ £125 = £10,000 + VAT
POTENTIAL SAVING: £14,000 +
Absolute transparency.
Aside from transparent hourly billing (just like any other professional service) from the moment we start working together, you'll have access to our process tracker - so you always know exactly what's happening with your search, without having to ask.
No chasing for updates. No "just checking in" emails.
Just complete transparency, whenever you need it, with everything in one place:
Everything in one GDPR-compliant platform: no more chasing for updates - you'll always know exactly where your search stands.
Detailed time tracking: see where your budget, and our time has been spent.
Collaboration at every stage: better processes, better candidates & better outcomes.
Better outcomes for clients & candidates.
Whilst there's no "typical" search, most can take anywhere from 3 - 8 weeks from brief to offer. The exact timeline depends on the role, the location, and specific nature of the role. We pride ourselves on high success rates with "difficult to fill roles", often when other agencies have tried, and failed.
Discovery
Before we get started on a search, we like to understand the clients business - not just the job spec.
As former practitioners, we add value by knowing what questions to ask (and which ones many recruiters miss). We'll visit you if possible, because telling candidates "it's a great culture" means nothing unless we've experienced it ourselves.
At this stage we'll also take a detailed look at the market for you, advising on comparable roles across various locations, factoring in remote vs. hybrid vs. office-based expectations etc, and map out realistic salary ranges alongside package and benefits.
Credit
We work on a time credit basis. Based on experience, we typically find that 40 - 45 hours is adequate for a search process, but we'll do our best to provide an accurate estimate for you during discovery.
Sometimes, more hours may be required in the event that a role or the brief changes direction during the process, but other than that we want to ensure you're covered from the outset - and that we can fill the role within the allocated time - with no surprises later!
Hour credits are purchased in advance, before the search begins.
If we don't fill the role within the time specified? If we get the estimate wrong and it takes longer to fill your role, we'll absorb the extra time - we can explain how this works during discovery.
Job ad
Once we've nailed down the brief, we'll write your job ad.
No generic templates, buzzword bingo, or posting the ad that you wrote to multiple job sites - just clear, honest copy that actually reflects the role, your company and the potential opportunity for candidates.
Once you've signed it off and we're aligned on exactly who we're looking for, we'll begin marketing to capture active candidates who are already in the market.
Outreach
At the same time we advertise your role, we'll begin a discreet search to target passive candidates - those who aren't actively looking for a new role, but might be open to a move for the perfect opportunity - but don't know it exists yet - that's where we come in.
Screening
Screening and interviewing is a critical part of the process that requires, and deserves, human judgement - not AI shortcuts.
Many agencies are already using AI to save time screening, but this is where we want to invest time.
By the time you see a candidates profile, we'll have met (wherever possible) and interviewed them, had proper meaningful conversations about motivations, cultural fit, career trajectory, and whether they're genuinely right for the role (not just "OK on paper").
We specialise in marketing recruitment - and because we've actually worked in many of the roles we recruit for, we know what good looks like beyond a well-written CV.
We always look at potential candidates through a hiring manager lens - if we were building our own team today, would we hire this candidate? If not, why should we expect you to?
Getting your hire over the line
We'll arrange all interviews and when you reach offer stage we'll be on hand to help negotiate terms, handle any counteroffers, and assist with referencing and right-to-work checks. Our work isn't done until your new hire walks through the door on day one!
Request a demo!
FAQs
Does hourly billing mean our process won't be as rigorous, or that my process won't be as good?
Traditional recruiters would love you to think so, but our hourly model delivers a thorough, professionally managed recruitment process every bit as good as you'd get anywhere for 20% - or more! Every stage is handled with the same level of care and expertise you'd expect from any experienced recruiter.
You'll get a first rate process.
The ONLY thing that changes is the fee structure, not the standard of our work!How does hourly billing work in recruitment?
Almost every recruitment agency in the UK charges a percentage of a candidate's salary when they're placed - and most hiring companies have simply accepted that as the only way it can work. It isn't.
Time to Hire is one of the only recruitment agencies in the UK to offer hourly billing, giving you a genuinely different and more transparent alternative.
Rather than a five-figure invoice landing at the end of the process, you purchase a block of hours upfront and we draw down against that block as we work.
You see exactly how your time is being spent, and you only pay for what you actually need - nothing more.How much does Time to Hire cost compared to a traditional recruitment agency?
A traditional agency typically charges 20% of a candidate's first year salary - that's £10,000 for a £50,000 role.
With Time to Hire, you pay only for the time you need for your search - we help estimate this before we get started.
For most roles, this represents a significant potential saving - without any compromise on the quality of the process.What happens for example, if we bought and used 40 hours, and the role hasn't filled?
We hope this will be an unusual occurrence - perhaps if the scope of the role has fundamentally changed during the process, this can happen sometimes.
However, we will hold regular reviews with you to flag any issues / common objections we come across, such as salary level or location etc, so you have as much notice of any issues which might impact the length of the search.
We'll work with you during discovery to estimate hours required for your search. Hours are then bought in advance and credited to your account. If we don't fill the role within the time specified? If we get the time estimate wrong and it takes longer to fill your role, we'll absorb the extra time - we can explain how this works during discovery.What happens if the role is filled before all our hours are used?
Any unused hours remain in your account and can be used against future roles. Nothing is wasted.
Do I have to pay all my hours upfront?
Yes - the hours credit is purchased upfront, which is what allows us to work on a fully committed, transparent basis rather than the commission-driven contingency model used by most traditional agencies. Our hourly fee also covers various expenses such as marketing, travel (to meet you and potential candidates we put forward) as well as various tech licences.
Is hourly billing recruitment better value than paying a placement fee?
For the vast majority of roles, yes - significantly so. But beyond the cost saving, hourly billing also changes the dynamic entirely.
As an agency we're not incentivised to rush a placement or push a candidate who isn't right for you.
You're paying for quality and thoroughness, not speed.Are there extra fees for multiple headcount for the same role?
If you are looking for two or three people for exactly the same role, we won't charge you for two or three individual processes.
We may need to factor a few extra hours overall, but in the grand scheme of things this shouldn't cost too much more than a search for an individual hire.Can I see a breakdown of how my recruitment hours are being spent?
Absolutely - that's one of the core principles behind Time to Hire.
Through your dedicated process tracker, you can see a real-time log of hourly activity at any time, 24/7.
There is no smoke and mirrors here.What's the difference between Time to Hire and a traditional recruitment agency?
Traditional agencies typically work on a contingency basis - no placement, no fee. While that sounds low risk, it creates an incentive to place candidates quickly rather than carefully. Time to Hire bills by the hour, which means our incentives are completely aligned with yours.
We're motivated by doing the job well, not by triggering a fee.Why are traditional recruitment agency fees so high?
The 20% placement fee has become an industry standard over time - but that doesn't mean it's justified.
Many feel agencies do relatively little to earn it, and the client absorbs almost all of the risk if a hire doesn't work out.
Time to Hire was founded on the belief that there's a fundamentally better and more cost-effective way to recruit.What is a contingency recruitment agency?
A contingency agency works on a no placement, no fee basis. This sounds attractive, but in practice it means the agency is motivated by speed and volume rather than care and quality. When payment depends on a placement being made quickly, the focus can shift from finding the right person, to finding any person.
Why is the 3-month recruitment warranty offered by most agencies so inadequate?
Most bad hires don't reveal themselves in the first 90 days - people are on best behaviour, settling in and finding their feet. The real cracks tend to appear at month four, five or six, by which point the warranty has expired, the fee is long gone, and you're facing the cost of starting the process all over again.
Can't I just use multiple agencies at the same time to improve my chances?
You can - but in practice, when agencies know they're competing against two or three others for the same role, they're unlikely to invest serious time and effort in the search. The result is a race to the bottom, with rushed processes, poor candidate vetting, and poor results.
A single, committed, transparent recruiter will almost always deliver better results.Are your recruitment fees negotiable?
Some agencies will negotiate on their percentage fee, but the fundamental model remains the same - you're still paying a large sum at the end of the process with little visibility of what it bought you. Time to Hire offers a structurally different model, not just a discounted version of the same thing - on that basis we do not offer a 'discounted rate'.
What is the Time to Hire process tracker?
Our process tracker is your real-time window into everything that's happening with your search. From the moment we start working together, you have 24/7 access to a dedicated dashboard showing every stage of the process - from the job brief and outreach activity through to screening notes, interview feedback, and billing.
What information can I see in the process tracker?
Your process tracker gives you access to hourly activity time tracking, the brief and job ad, number of applicants and their status, outreach activity and responses, screening call notes, interview notes, shortlisted candidate profiles, invoices and billing, and downloadable reports.
Everything in one place, updated in real time - and fully GDPR compliant.Is the Time to Hire process tracker GDPR compliant?
Yes, fully. All candidate data held within the process tracker is managed in compliance with GDPR requirements.
How is the Time to Hire process tracker different from a recruiter sending me regular update emails?
A recruiter sending weekly updates is still controlling what information you see and when. The process tracker gives you unfiltered, real-time visibility whenever you want it - not a curated summary on someone else's schedule.
What roles does Time to Hire recruit for?
We specialise in marketing recruitment. Our focus is on roles we've actually worked in, hired for, or managed ourselves - which means we bring real-world experience to every search, not just an ability to match keywords on a CV.
Why does it matter that you've worked in the roles you recruit for?
Because it means we understand what good actually looks like in practice, not just on paper. We screen candidates the way a hiring manager would - asking ourselves whether we'd hire this person for our own team. If the answer is no, we'll tell you why, rather than sending you a CV just to hit a number.
What is the Time to Hire acid test?
For every candidate we consider, we ask ourselves one simple question - if we were building our own team today, would we hire this person? If the answer is no, they won't make your shortlist. It's a straightforward way of ensuring we only put genuinely strong candidates in front of you.
Do you work with startups as well as larger businesses?
Yes - our model works well for businesses of all sizes. In fact, for growing businesses and startups where every hire is critical and budgets are under pressure, cost-effective hourly billing recruitment often makes more sense than a traditional agency fee.
How do I know Time to Hire will understand my business and what I'm looking for?
We take a detailed brief before the start of every search - not just the job spec, but the culture, the team dynamic, the manager's style, and what's gone wrong with previous hires, if relevant. Understanding your business properly is how we avoid the keyword-matching, CV-dumping approach that gives the industry such a bad reputation.
If we genuinely don't think we can help you, or we feel we're not quite the right fit for you, we'll tell you.How quickly can Time to Hire start working on a role?
Get in touch and we can typically begin within a matter of days. Because we're not juggling dozens of contingency roles at once, we can give your search the focused attention it deserves from the outset.
Our thoughts on recruitment.