What is Flat Fee Recruitment?

Flat fee recruitment is a hiring model where you pay a fixed price to advertise and manage your vacancy, rather than paying a percentage of the candidate’s salary.

Traditional recruitment agencies typically charge between 15% and 25% of a candidate’s first-year salary. That means a £35,000 hire could cost £5,250 to £8,750 in fees.

With flat fee recruitment, the cost stays the same regardless of salary. Whether you hire someone on £25,000 or £75,000, the fee does not increase and you can hire as many candidates as you like.

The model is built around transparency and control. You pay for the recruitment service itself, this includes advertising, technology, screening support, and outreach if required for an agreed fixed fee.

At Flat Fee Recruiter, we offer flexible options depending on how much support you need:

• Advertising only.

• Modular support such as CV screening and interview management.

• Proactive headhunting and outreach for harder-to-fill roles.

This means you can scale support up or down depending on the complexity of the hire, without committing to high commission fees.

Flat fee recruitment works particularly well for SMEs, growing businesses, and organisations that want to stay in control of hiring while reducing recruitment costs.