This is for recruiters who want to work self-employed in the UK and aren't sure the split-fee platform they're looking at is the right fit. By the end you'll have a shortlist of two models, a fee comparison you've done yourself, and a clear idea of what you're risking under each.
There are six realistic routes: a rival split-fee platform, a recruiter collective, an umbrella or PAYE-style model, a franchise, going out as a sole trader or limited company, and starting your own agency. Each trades fee share against support against risk, and the right one depends on your billings, your client book and how much admin you'll tolerate.
Step 1: Write down what you'd bill in a normal month
Before comparing anything, get your own numbers on one page. Average fee per placement, placements per quarter (be pessimistic), and how much of your pipeline comes from clients you already know versus cold work. Platform maths looks lovely at peak performance and miserable in a slow February.
You'll know this step has worked when you can say, in one sentence, what a bad quarter looks like for you. If you can't, don't move on.
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Step 2: Price the split properly
Headline percentages mislead. Ask each provider what comes off before your share is calculated: platform fees, payment-terms charges, rebate and clawback rules, and who funds the gap while a client takes 60 days to pay. A platform keeping a larger cut but paying promptly and covering rebates can beat a generous split that leaves you carrying the risk.
Email line to use: "Can you show me a worked example of a £12,000 fee, from invoice to my bank account, including every deduction and the timing?"
A vague answer is your answer.
Step 3: Test the six routes against your situation
Rival split-fee platforms. Closest to what you're probably leaving. Low setup, shared brand, someone else handles invoicing. Compare desk access to jobs, because a platform with thin live roles starves you whatever the split.
Recruiter collectives. Smaller groups pooling clients and candidates. Often friendlier and more flexible. Support depends entirely on who's in the room, which cuts both ways.
Umbrella or PAYE-style models. You're paid through a payroll arrangement, so tax and NI are handled for you. Convenient, but check how much the provider charges and whether you're genuinely self-employed or effectively staff. HMRC's employment status guidance on gov.uk is the place to start, and I'd get a short call with an accountant before signing.
Franchise. Brand, training, systems. Also an upfront cost and ongoing fees, so it only works if you'd otherwise struggle to win clients cold.
Sole trader or limited company. Keep everything you bill. Also keep every bill: insurance, CRM, job board spend, chasing late invoices. If you're keen to build a candidate network without paying LinkedIn seat prices, the options in this piece on LinkedIn Recruiter alternatives are worth a read, though that one focuses on marketing hires.
Your own agency. Maximum upside, maximum exposure. Terms of business, cash flow, compliance, and probably a bad six months first.
How to tell it's worked: you've crossed out four routes and can say why.
Step 4: Check the compliance you'd inherit
Self-employed doesn't mean unregulated. Agencies supplying temps fall under the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003, and anyone handling candidate data needs to be on the right side of UK GDPR (the ICO's guidance is plain enough). Ask each provider who holds the insurance, who owns the candidate data, and what happens to your database if you leave.
That last one gets overlooked constantly.
Step 5: Run a 90-day trial before committing
Pick one route and test it in a limited way. Work a handful of roles, bill one placement if you can, and track time spent on admin against time spent actually recruiting. Success looks like admin under a quarter of your week and at least one live conversation with a client you didn't bring yourself.
If you want to look at where roles and talent already sit, OHUB's employer tools show how video-first recruitment is being used, which tells you something about what clients now expect.
If a step goes wrong
If the numbers in Step 1 look thin, don't go self-employed yet. Stay employed and build a client book on the side where your contract allows it. If a provider dodges the worked example in Step 2, drop them. If the trial in Step 5 leaves you buried in admin, move one model along: from sole trader to a platform, or from platform to collective. Switching isn't failure. It's what the trial was for.
This week: send the worked-example email from Step 2 to two providers and see which one answers properly.
