How Much Does a Retail Recruitment Agency Charge in the UK?
If you're considering using a retail recruitment agency, one of the first questions you're likely to ask is: how much will it cost?
The short answer is that most UK recruitment agencies charge a percentage of the successful candidate's salary for permanent recruitment.
Typically, permanent recruitment fees in the UK range from around 15% to 25% of the candidate's first-year salary, although fees can be higher for specialist, senior or executive appointments.
However, percentage-based recruitment isn't the only option.
Some specialist recruitment agencies, including C2 Recruitment, also offer fixed-fee, retained and bespoke recruitment solutions, which can provide businesses with greater flexibility and more predictable recruitment costs.
How are retail recruitment agency fees calculated?
The traditional model for permanent recruitment is a percentage of the successful candidate's annual salary.
For example:
£30,000 salary at 15% = £4,500 recruitment fee
£40,000 salary at 20% = £8,000 recruitment fee
£60,000 salary at 20% = £12,000 recruitment fee
£100,000 salary at 25% = £25,000 recruitment fee
The exact percentage will depend on the agency, seniority of the position, complexity of the search and level of service being provided.
There is no standard recruitment agency fee that every UK recruiter has to charge.
Why do retail recruitment agency fees vary?
Recruiting a Store Manager for a well-known retailer in a major city is very different from finding a Managing Director, specialist Head Office professional or senior leader with experience in a particular area of retail.
The more specialist the search, the more work is normally required.
Factors that can affect the fee include:
Salary and seniority
Location
Availability of suitable candidates
Specialist experience required
Number of vacancies
Whether the role is exclusive
Whether proactive candidate sourcing is required
Whether the assignment is retained or contingent
This is why comparing recruitment agencies purely on percentage can be misleading.
A cheaper recruitment fee isn't necessarily better value if the agency can't find the person you need.
Are there alternatives to percentage-based recruitment fees?
Yes.
Traditional percentage recruitment remains widely used, but businesses don't necessarily have to pay a percentage of salary every time they recruit.
At C2 Recruitment, alongside traditional permanent recruitment and executive search, we can provide bespoke fixed-fee recruitment solutions.
Rather than automatically applying a percentage to the candidate's salary, we can build a recruitment package around what the client actually needs.
That could include:
Job advertising
Candidate sourcing
Database searching
Proactive candidate approaches
Screening and shortlisting
Interview management
Full end-to-end recruitment
A fixed-fee approach can be particularly useful for businesses recruiting multiple people, opening new locations, experiencing regular recruitment demand or simply wanting greater certainty over recruitment costs.
For businesses with ongoing recruitment requirements, we can also create a longer-term recruitment partnership where C2 effectively becomes an extension of the client's business.
The important thing is choosing the recruitment model that makes commercial sense for the vacancy and the business.
What does a retail recruitment agency actually do for the fee?
A good specialist retail recruitment agency should do considerably more than advertise your vacancy and forward CVs.
Depending on the assignment, the work may include understanding your business and the role, salary benchmarking, advertising, database searching, proactive sourcing, approaching passive candidates, screening and interviewing, managing the candidate journey, interview coordination, offer management and providing advice throughout the process.
For senior appointments, the work can become considerably more detailed and may involve market mapping, confidential approaches, competitor research and a dedicated executive search strategy.
You're ultimately paying for access, expertise, time and the ability to find the right person.
Do recruitment agencies charge candidates?
No.
Candidates should not pay a recruitment agency to find them a permanent job.
The recruitment fee is paid by the employer engaging the recruitment agency.
What is retained recruitment?
With traditional contingency recruitment, the agency is normally paid when it successfully places a candidate.
With retained recruitment or executive search, the client commits to a recruitment partner and the fee may be paid in agreed stages throughout the assignment.
Retained search is particularly suited to senior, confidential, specialist or business-critical appointments where a much deeper search of the market is required.
For executive search in the UK, fees can commonly be around 25% to 33% of first-year remuneration, depending on the search firm and complexity of the assignment.
Can you negotiate recruitment agency fees?
Recruitment fees are commercial agreements between the employer and recruitment agency.
However, rather than simply asking an agency to reduce its percentage, it can be worth discussing whether there is a different way of working.
An exclusive relationship, multiple vacancies, regular recruitment or an ongoing partnership may make a different commercial arrangement possible.
A fixed-fee solution could also prove more cost-effective than simply negotiating a lower percentage.
The strongest recruitment relationships tend to work when both sides are committed to getting the right result.
Is a specialist retail recruitment agency worth the fee?
There will always be positions that a business can successfully recruit itself.
But when a vacancy is difficult to fill, has already consumed considerable management time, requires specialist sector knowledge or needs access to candidates who aren't actively applying for jobs, a good recruitment agency can provide significant value.
The recruitment fee should also be compared with the cost of not hiring.
An important position sitting vacant for three months can cost a business considerably more than the recruitment fee.
Making the wrong hire can be more expensive again.
What should I ask a retail recruitment agency before agreeing a fee?
Don't just ask:
"What's your percentage?"
Ask:
What experience do you have recruiting this type of role?
How will you find candidates?
Will you proactively approach people or simply advertise?
Who will manage my assignment?
What is included within the fee?
What happens if the candidate leaves?
What guarantee or replacement period is included?
Do you offer fixed-fee recruitment?
Are there different options if we recruit regularly?
Can you provide salary and market advice before we start?
The answers will tell you far more about the value you're getting than the headline percentage alone.
How does C2 Recruitment charge?
At C2 Recruitment, we offer traditional recruitment models including permanent recruitment, retained recruitment and executive search.
But we don't believe every vacancy or client should automatically be charged in exactly the same way.
We also offer bespoke fixed-fee recruitment solutions, candidate sourcing, job advertising and ongoing recruitment partnerships.
We've been leaders in retail recruitment since 2008, working across Retail, Hospitality, Head Office and Senior & Executive recruitment throughout the UK and internationally.
Our approach is straightforward:
Understand what the client actually needs first, then recommend the most appropriate recruitment solution.
Sometimes a traditional percentage fee makes perfect sense.
Sometimes a fixed fee offers better value.
Sometimes you need a retained or executive search to properly search the market.
And sometimes you simply need better advertising or help finding candidates without paying for a complete recruitment service.
Rather than forcing every vacancy into the same recruitment model, we'll build the right solution around the client.
Looking for a retail recruitment agency?
If you're recruiting within Retail or Hospitality and want to understand what a recruitment agency is likely to cost, speak to C2 Recruitment.
We'll happily explain the different recruitment options available, what they cost and which approach we believe offers the best value for your business.
No hard sell. Just straightforward, honest recruitment advice from specialists who've been doing it since 2008.