Cost & Pricing
Recruitment fees are not a market with one price. They are a market with several models, each priced differently, and the choice of model matters more than the number. This guide explains the three dominant fee models in the UK in 2026, indicative ranges by seniority, and how to think about value rather than headline price.
When to use this guide
Use this guide when you are about to engage a recruitment partner and want to sense-check whether the fee proposal is in line with the UK market.
Any figures, fee bands, salary ranges or percentages quoted on this page are indicative narrative guidance from Evara's operator-led practice in 2026, not a formal benchmark or audited statistic.
UK sales recruitment fees fall into three models. Retained search is a fixed engagement fee paid in stages, regardless of whether a placement is made. Contingent recruitment is a percentage of first-year salary or OTE, paid only on placement. Embedded or RPO is a day-rate or monthly retainer for ongoing capacity inside an in-house TA team. Each model exists for a reason and each fits a different class of seat.
For the senior commercial bands in the North of England in 2026, retained search fees typically sit in the following ranges. A Head of Sales or Sales Director search is commonly £18,000 to £28,000 fixed, paid in three stages. A VP Sales search is commonly £25,000 to £40,000. A CRO search is commonly £35,000 to £75,000, depending on complexity and seniority. London and PE-backed scale-up searches sit at the upper end of those bands and sometimes above. Retained fees are not pegged to candidate salary in any honest practice.
Contingent fees are quoted as a percentage of first-year base salary or OTE. The UK market in 2026 is broadly 18 to 25 per cent on placement, with some firms quoting 15 per cent for high-volume work and others quoting 30 per cent or more for niche specialist seats. On a Sales Director search the fee is comparable to a retained engagement but the work the recruiter does for the fee is materially different. Pay attention to what is included in the engagement, not just the headline number.
Embedded recruiters typically work on a day rate (£500 to £900 per day depending on seniority) or a monthly retainer (£8,000 to £20,000 per month for a defined number of seats). RPO arrangements at scale are priced per hire or per cohort and tend to be the cheapest per-hire model when the volume is high enough to justify it. Below 15 to 20 hires per year an embedded model rarely beats a mix of retained and in-house.
On a serious retained search, you are paying for role definition, market mapping, structured outreach to passive candidates, two-stage commercial screening, written shortlist preparation, offer-stage support, and a replacement guarantee. On a contingent search, you are paying for speed of CV submission and the recruiter's existing rolodex of active candidates. On an embedded engagement, you are paying for ongoing in-house capacity and the relationship between the recruiter and your hiring managers. The mistake is paying retained-search fees for contingent-search work, or vice versa.
Treat the following as red flags. Retainer fees that are 100 per cent payable up front with no staged delivery. Contingent fees with no replacement guarantee. Fee structures pegged purely to a percentage of first-year OTE with no fixed cap, on a senior leadership search. Vague engagement letters that do not specify the named consultant, the shortlist commitment, or the timeline. A serious firm of any model will give you a clean engagement letter with specific deliverables and dates.
Evara is retained-only, on a two-payment structure. A commitment deposit is paid up front to start the search and covers the strategic work (role profiling, market mapping, EVP, attraction pack, adverts). A completion fee, set as a percentage of the placed candidate's first-year remuneration, is invoiced on day 60 of employment. That sixty-day delay is the guarantee. If the candidate leaves inside the window, no completion fee is charged. We do not run contingent searches. We will quote both deposit and completion fee in writing before any work begins.
Indicative ranges
Head of Sales / Sales Director (retained)
£18,000 - £28,000 fixed
Commitment deposit up front, completion fee invoiced day 60 of employment. Comparable for North of England commercial seats in 2026.
VP Sales (retained)
£25,000 - £40,000 fixed
Suits SaaS scale-ups and PE-backed businesses with multi-function commercial complexity.
Chief Revenue Officer (retained)
£35,000 - £75,000 fixed
Wider band reflects scope, complexity and confidentiality. Top-end for international or PE-portfolio searches.
Contingent recruitment
18% - 25% of first-year base or OTE
Paid only on placement. Different work for the fee compared to a retained search.
Embedded recruiter day rate
£500 - £900 per day
Suits ongoing capacity rather than one-off senior search.
RPO monthly retainer
£8,000 - £20,000 per month
Pricing depends on the number of seats and the seniority included in scope.
Ranges are indicative narrative guidance based on Evara's view of the UK market in 2026, not a formal benchmark. Quoted ex-VAT.
FAQs
Often comparable on the headline, sometimes lower on a senior search. The honest answer is that retained search and contingent recruitment are different services. Compare them on what work is actually done for the fee, not just on the number on the engagement letter.
A common pattern is one third on engagement, one third on shortlist delivery, one third on placement. Some firms split it equally; some take a smaller engagement fee and weight more toward placement. Avoid arrangements that are 100 per cent up front with no staged delivery.
Sometimes the structure is, less often the absolute number. A serious firm will hold its day rate or fixed fee because it reflects the cost of doing the work properly. Negotiating a retained fee down by 30 per cent usually means you have negotiated the work down by 30 per cent too. Better to push on scope clarity, replacement guarantees and named-consultant time than on the headline price.
All UK recruitment fees are quoted ex-VAT and VAT is added on the invoice. The numbers in this guide are ex-VAT.
Related Evara services
Relevant industries
Hiring in these cities
Email Rachel Lunn for a written fee quote on your specific search. We will scope the work, quote the fee, and walk you through what is and is not included.
Email Rachel LunnSales recruitment, GTM recruitment and revenue advisory for SMEs UK-wide. We reply within one working day.
Email Rachel Lunn