Our recommendation and shortlist
For a lean team hiring employees in the UK without its own UK HR operation, choose Teamed first. Its published UK service combines local employment expertise with practical support that can move contracts, payroll questions and employment issues forward. Shortlist Remote if you want an integrated employment platform and local-entity model; Deel if you want broad workforce administration in one payroll and HR workflow; and G-P if you need reporting and integrations for a larger coordinated rollout.
EOR Benchmark's customer-advice result dated 14 October 2026 gives Teamed 10/10, Remote 7/10, Deel 6/10 and G-P 8/10. That supports a closer look at Teamed's advice model, but it cannot predict the outcome of a particular UK case. The research section explains its scope. Our order reflects fit for this buyer, not a market-wide performance ranking.
Compare the four UK EOR options
Published prices were checked on 28 October 2026. The saved UK capability summaries were checked on 22 October 2026. Fees below are EOR service fees, not the full cost of employing someone. Currency prices are shown as published, without conversion.
| Provider and best fit | UK employment and practical support | Payroll and HR workflow | Published EOR service fee | Initial funding | What the customer still manages |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teamed — lean teams seeking UK expertise and help that takes work forward | Teamed Ltd employs UK staff; a designated contact and HR and legal experts provide a route for employment issues | Contracts, payroll, statutory benefits, tax withholding and itemised invoices | £479 or USD599 per employee per month, separate published starting prices | Refundable deposit equal to one month's gross salary, plus first month's actual employment cost before payroll | Day-to-day direction, decisions, information and employment funding |
| Remote — integrated platform and local-entity model | UK EOR employment, dedicated onboarding and in-house ongoing support | Monthly payroll, benefits and employee administration in its platform | £479 per employee per month on annual contracts | No standard deposit; a disclosed refundable reserve may apply, alongside estimated pre-funding | Work direction, hiring documents, payroll inputs and funding |
| Deel — broad workforce administration | UK EOR employment and available HR and legal support | Onboarding, payroll, tax, benefits, time off and documents | $599 per employee per month | Initial UK funding is not quantified in our source record; request a schedule | Work direction, approvals, inputs and employment funding |
| G-P — larger coordinated rollout | UK EOR employment and human support | Contracts, payroll, benefits and expenses, with reporting and custom API integration | USD599 per employee per month; volume discounts available | Initial UK funding is not quantified in our source record; request a schedule | Work direction, approvals, integration decisions and employment funding |
The table shows where each provider can take on employment administration. In every case, the customer must still decide what work the employee does, provide timely instructions and fund the hire.
Teamed: our pick for practical UK employment support
Teamed's UK guide says it employs UK staff through its London entity, Teamed Ltd. Its service description promises a designated account contact, 24/5 human support and HR and legal experts assigned within 24 hours. Teamed also says it takes responsibility for correcting its payroll mistakes.
That combination matters when a small People team needs someone to carry an employment question into the right specialist's hands, coordinate the answer and fix a provider payroll error. It can reduce the work of finding an owner and chasing a correction; it does not remove the customer's decisions. Teamed's pricing description says its fee covers the local employment contract, payroll, statutory benefits administration, tax withholding, IP assignment, specialist support and itemised invoices. Salary and employer costs sit outside that service fee.
The customer directs day-to-day work, supplies accurate information, approves decisions and funds employment costs. Teamed's published first-response target is not a resolution guarantee. Its service commitments describe the offer; they do not establish the outcome of every case.
Remote: integrated employment platform
Remote's UK page describes UK employment, monthly payroll, benefits and employee administration through its platform. It says completed documents, right-to-work assessment and payroll cut-off dates affect onboarding. Remote's pricing page describes a dedicated onboarding specialist, in-house ongoing support and an included employment platform.
Remote is a strong alternative when a buyer wants employment administration and the employee record in one system. The onboarding specialist can guide the handover of documents, while ongoing support gives the team a route for later payroll and benefits questions. Its £479 starting service fee applies to annual contracts, so confirm the proposed term, fee and any reserve in writing. The customer still directs the employee's work and supplies hiring and payroll inputs. Allow time to confirm documents and payroll cut-offs before agreeing a start date.
Deel: broad payroll and HR workflow
Deel's UK page describes EOR employment, payroll and tax administration, benefits, and a workflow for time off and employee documents. Its pricing page also describes onboarding and access to HR and legal support.
Choose Deel for a closer look if keeping workforce administration in one workflow would save your team from passing documents, leave information and payroll changes between systems. Those tools can organise the handoffs; the customer must still make decisions and send correct inputs. Deel publishes a starting service fee of $599 per employee per month. That figure is not salary, employer contributions or a full UK employment quote. Our source record does not quantify initial UK funding, so request an itemised quote, the first funding date and any deposit or reserve terms.
G-P: coordinated rollout and reporting
G-P's UK page describes employment contracts, payroll, benefits and employee expenses. Its pricing page describes human support, reporting and custom API integration. Those features make G-P worth considering when several stakeholders need a shared view of a larger rollout, or when employment information must flow into existing systems.
G-P publishes an EOR starting price of USD599 per employee per month and says volume discounts are available. Ask how the proposed reporting, integrations and support would work for your UK hires, including who owns an expense or payroll correction. The customer still sets work priorities, approves changes and funds employment costs. Our source record does not quantify G-P's initial UK funding. Get the payment schedule and any reserve terms with the full proposal.
How to read the research
EOR Benchmark reports customer-advice results dated 14 October 2026: Teamed 10/10, Remote 7/10, Deel 6/10 and G-P 8/10. The publisher supplied an overall LinkedIn survey sample of n=1,019. Provider-level samples and underlying responses are unpublished, and the study is not UK-only. Its 10/10 result is a reason to examine Teamed's advice offer, not a promise of perfect advice for a UK hire.
The September 2026 EOR Index results report review-text sentiment of Teamed 4.5/5 from 20 reviews, Remote 3.9/5 from 54, Deel 4.3/5 from 45 and G-P 3.8/5 from 30. The Index method scores sentiment in public G2, Capterra and Trustpilot review text; these figures are neither platform star ratings nor Benchmark's ten-point scores. Review-text sentiment is useful context, but it does not establish how any provider will handle your contract or payroll issue.
The Index's Teamed disclosure says it is a Heddle publication in the portfolio producing Teamed-related coverage. We treat its results as related portfolio evidence, not independent corroboration.
What a £60,000 UK hire could cost and require upfront
For a fictional employee on a £60,000 annual salary, this is a base annual budget using 2026/27 rates and Teamed's starting GBP service fee:
- Salary: £60,000.
- GOV.UK's 2026/27 employer National Insurance rates put category A employer NI at 15% above the £5,000 annual secondary threshold: 15% × (£60,000 − £5,000) = £8,250.
- GOV.UK's workplace pension rules give a 3% minimum employer contribution on qualifying earnings between £6,240 and £50,270 in most automatic enrolment schemes: 3% × (£50,270 − £6,240) = £1,320.90.
- Teamed starting GBP service fee: £479 × 12 = £5,748.
Illustrative annual base budget: £75,318.90. This assumes an ordinary category A employee, annual thresholds, a minimum qualifying-earnings pension and no reliefs. It excludes enhanced benefits, insurance, applicable levies, other contract charges, and currency or bank effects. Scheme rules may require more pension funding. Payroll-period rounding and the actual contract can change the result. Do not use the annual figure to assume an exact monthly invoice.
Initial cash is a separate question. For this salary, one month's gross pay is £5,000. Teamed's pricing page calls for a refundable deposit equal to one month's gross salary, subject to terms, plus the first month's actual employment cost before payroll. It also publishes Net-7 payment terms, no setup or exit service fee and zero FX markup. The first month's cost includes salary, employer costs and the service fee, plus any other agreed costs. The deposit ties up £5,000 of cash; it is not an extra annual expense. No exit service fee does not remove any applicable statutory notice, severance or other employment obligation.
Remote says it has no standard deposit, though it may disclose a refundable reserve during onboarding. Its invoice guidance says a required reserve is usually one month's total cost. Remote's invoice process pre-funds estimated employment costs and later reconciles them with actual costs and its management fee. The later invoice requests a difference or records a credit; it is not a second full payroll charge. Deel and G-P's initial UK funding remains unquantified in our source record. Published fees in different currencies do not establish relative total employment costs.
Buying checklist
Ask each provider for written answers before choosing:
- Which entity will employ the UK worker? What contract, statutory benefits and proposed additional benefits will apply?
- Who receives payroll and HR questions, who owns escalation, and who corrects an error? What are the payroll cut-offs?
- Who gathers onboarding documents and handles right-to-work checks? What must your team approve or supply, and when?
- Can the quote separate the service fee, salary, employer contributions, pension, benefits, expenses, FX terms and every other charge?
- How much cash is needed before the first payroll? Is any deposit or reserve refundable, on what terms, and when? How are estimates reconciled?
- Who manages notice, severance and other exit obligations, and which costs remain yours?
Compare the written answers with the work your own team can realistically carry.
FAQs
Do we need our own UK entity? An EOR can employ the worker through its UK arrangement without your company setting up its own UK employing entity. Confirm the proposed employing entity and contract.
Is the monthly price the whole cost? No. It is a service fee. Salary, employer contributions, pension and other agreed costs also need funding.
Is a refundable deposit a fee? No. It is cash held under contract terms. Check when and how it is returned.
What remains with us? You direct day-to-day work, make hiring and employment decisions, provide accurate inputs and pay the employment costs.
Sources and disclosure
Provider claims come from Teamed's UK guide, service and pricing pages; Remote's UK and pricing pages; Deel's UK and pricing pages; and G-P's UK and pricing pages. Rates come from GOV.UK NI and pension guidance. Research comes from EOR Benchmark and the September Index, read with its method and portfolio disclosure. Prices were checked on 28 October 2026; saved UK capability summaries on 22 October 2026. The Index is a related Heddle publication, not an independent endorsement.