How Much Does Outsourced Admin Support Cost in the UK?

If you have ever tried to budget for admin help, you will have noticed the same problem: nobody publishes prices. Search for “virtual assistant cost” and you will find vague ranges, “contact us for a quote” pages and American figures that bear no relation to UK rates.

This guide puts real numbers on the table. It covers what UK outsourced admin support typically costs, how providers structure their pricing, and what you should expect to pay for the hours you actually need. It does not pretend every business is the same, but it gives you enough to make an informed decision rather than guessing.

What you are actually buying

Outsourced admin support is not a single product. It is a block of someone else’s time, applied to tasks you would otherwise do yourself or pay an employee to handle. The cost depends on three things: how many hours you need, what level of skill those hours require, and whether you buy them as a monthly package or ad hoc.

Most UK providers work on one of three models:

• Monthly retainer packages. You commit to a set number of hours each month at a discounted rate. This is the most common arrangement for ongoing admin.
• Pay as you go. You buy hours when you need them, usually at a higher hourly rate. Useful for one-off projects or irregular workloads.
• Project-based pricing. A fixed fee for a defined piece of work, such as a CRM cleanup or a backlog of invoice processing.

For most small businesses, the monthly package model offers the best balance of cost and predictability. See our full range of services for what those hours can cover.

How Hands Off Support prices

Hands Off Support publishes its pricing openly, which is unusual in this sector. Current packages are:

• Starter — 10 hours per month. First month £150, then £300 per month (£30 per hour).
• Growth — 20 hours per month. First month £250, then £500 per month (£25 per hour). This is the most popular option.
• Professional — 40 hours or more per month. First month £400, then £800 per month (£20 per hour).
• Custom — flexible arrangements from £80 per month, with 50% off your first month. Suitable for individuals or small projects.
• Pay as you go — £40 per hour, minimum two hours.

Every new client gets 50% off their first month on Starter, Growth, Professional and Custom packages. There is no onboarding fee, no long contract and no lock-in. Hours can go up or down, or stop entirely, as your needs change. Phone and call handling is available as an add-on or included in higher packages.

You can see the full breakdown on the pricing section of the homepage.

What affects the cost

The hours you buy matter, but they are not the only variable. Several factors push the price up or down:

• Task complexity. Filing and data entry cost less per hour than drafting correspondence, managing a complex diary or handling sensitive client onboarding. If your work requires judgement and business context, expect to pay more.
• Volume and frequency. A steady 20 hours a month will almost always cost less per hour than sporadic five-hour bursts. Providers can plan capacity and pass the efficiency back to you.
• Response expectations. Same-day turnaround on everything costs more than a 24- or 48-hour standard. Be honest about what genuinely needs to be immediate.
• Tools and access. If your systems are straightforward, setup is quick. If you need support inside multiple platforms with complex permissions, onboarding takes longer.
• UK-based versus offshore. UK-based support costs more per hour than offshore alternatives, but it comes with UK business context, UK hours and fewer communication gaps. For client-facing admin, the difference often pays for itself.

The comparison that matters: employee versus outsourced

The hourly rate for outsourced support can look high next to a part-time employee’s wage. But the wage is not the cost. A part-time admin employee brings salary, employer National Insurance contributions, pension contributions, holiday pay, sick pay, recruitment costs, equipment, software licences and management time. When you add those up, the true hourly cost of an in-house hire is often significantly higher than the headline rate.

Outsourced support also flexes. You are not paying for quiet weeks. You are not managing holiday cover. You are not recruiting again if the person leaves. For a detailed breakdown of this comparison, see Virtual Assistant vs Hiring Part Time Admin.

That said, outsourcing is not automatically cheaper. If you need someone on site every day, managing a physical process or covering a reception desk, an employee may be the right answer. The honest position is that outsourcing usually wins for remote, task-based admin; employment usually wins for physical presence.

What your admin is costing you now

Before you decide whether outsourced support is affordable, it helps to know what the status quo costs. Most owners never put a number on it.

A simple formula: hours per week on admin × your hourly value × 46 working weeks. If you spend 10 hours a week on admin and value your time at £30 an hour, that is £13,800 a year. At £50 an hour, it is £23,000.

Our existing guide, What Admin Work Is Really Costing UK Small Businesses, walks through this calculation. You can also run your own numbers with the free cost calculator on the homepage.

The comparison is not “outsourced support versus free.” It is “outsourced support versus the value of the hours you spend on admin instead of billable or growth work.” For many owners, the saving is real. It is not guaranteed, but it is worth measuring.

How to get an accurate figure

Market ranges are useful for budgeting. They are not a quote.

The only way to know what you will pay is to describe your actual admin workload to a provider and ask for a scoped figure. A good provider will ask what tasks you want handled, how many hours they take now, what tools you use and what turnaround you need. They will then recommend a package or a custom arrangement.

At Hands Off Support, the process starts with a free discovery call. You talk through your admin load. You get a clear written summary of hours needed and transparent pricing, usually within a couple of days. There is no obligation and no pressure. You can arrange a call here.

If you are not ready to talk yet, start with the cost calculator. It takes two minutes and gives you a rough annual figure for what admin is costing you now. That number is often the most persuasive argument for making a change.