Payroll — every method
02 Paying people
Every payroll route assessed and matched, including, but not limited to, outsourced PAYE under our reference, a managed bureau under yours, PAYE umbrella, limited company, sole trader, CIS, healthcare and direct PAYE routes, and accounting introductions for self-employed contractors. We look at the shape of the workforce, compare the routes that genuinely fit and introduce the provider best suited to it. In all of them you send the money once — wages, tax, National Insurance — and the provider does everything downstream.
Free to agencies and contractors; our partners pay us.
How it works
01
Assess
We look at the shape of the workforce: sectors, volumes, where people are placed and the risk you carry.
02
Compare
Every route that genuinely fits goes on the table, with liability, administration and cost set out the same way.
03
Introduce
Two or three providers from a panel we have already checked. If none is right, we say so.
The two core models
Two core models decide the important question — whose name the payroll runs under. Everything else is a specialist route that sits alongside them. In all of them you send the money once — wages, tax, National Insurance, all of it — and the provider does everything else. You never pay the workers yourself.
Outsourced PAYE
our reference
- You
- ProviderLegal employer
- Workers
Payroll bureau
your reference
- YouLegal employer
- Provider
- Workers
| Comparison point | Outsourced PAYEour reference | Payroll bureauyour reference |
|---|---|---|
| Legal employer | The provider. The workers and the employment liability sit with them. | You. Your people stay on your own PAYE scheme. |
| On your books? | No — they come off entirely. | Yes — you remain the employer of record. |
| What you do | Send the money and the timesheets. That's it. | Send the money and the timesheets. That's it. |
| What the provider does | Employs and pays the workers, deducts and remits PAYE and NI, files RTI, payslips, pensions, statutory payments, compliance. | Runs the entire payroll under your reference — pays workers, remits tax and NI, files RTI. Fully managed, not processing-only. |
| Employment risk | Theirs. Tribunal exposure, holiday pay disputes and AWR parity sit with the provider. | Yours. The administration moves; the legal responsibility does not. |
| Usually suits | Businesses that want the headcount and the risk off their balance sheet. | Businesses that want to stay the employer but stop running payroll. |
Specialist routes
The payroll routes we connect you to include, but are not limited to, outsourced PAYE, payroll bureau, PAYE umbrella, limited company, sole trader, CIS, healthcare and direct PAYE routes, and accounting introductions for self-employed contractors.
- UK · Construction
CIS
Self-employed subcontractors, verified with HMRC and deducted at 20%, 30% or gross. Verification, monthly returns and payment & deduction statements all handled — including re-verification, which is where most agencies slip.
- UK · Healthcare
Healthcare routes
Locum and agency clinical staff, with the framework and shift-pattern requirements that come with NHS and private work. Built around how trusts and providers actually engage and pay.
- UK · Accredited providers
PAYE umbrella
One employer across assignments, which suits workers moving between bookings or holding several at once. Since 6 April 2026 the agency in the chain operates PAYE, so we introduce accredited providers and set the evidence standard alongside them.
- UK
Direct PAYE for your own staff
Internal staff and consultants paid alongside your contract book, on the same run, under whichever of the two core models you have chosen.
- UK · Self-employed
Limited company
For contractors working through a company they own and direct: the most control over pensions and timing, and the most administration — annual accounts, corporation tax, VAT if you cross the threshold, director's payroll. We introduce accountants and providers for the setup and the running of it; we do not prepare the accounts.
- UK · Self-employed
Sole trader
The lightest structure: you register, you invoice and you file a return. No company to maintain and no separation between you and the business. Accounting introductions work the same way — we introduce the provider; we do not prepare the return.
- Ireland
Irish PAYE
Employed in Ireland, paid under Irish PAYE with income tax, PRSI and USC deducted and reported to Revenue in real time. The closest equivalent to UK outsourced PAYE, and the right answer for most Irish placements.
For genuinely independent contractors operating through their own Irish company, or as a sole trader where the engagement truly supports it — with the status analysis that requires, in Irish terms rather than translated from IR35.
A local employment vehicle in the country the work is done — local registration, local payroll, local filings and statutory entitlements. Common in oil and gas, renewables, marine, civils and large engineering programmes.
Where PAYE umbrella fits
PAYE umbrella employment is a legitimate route and one of the highest-volume searches in this market. We treat it as one option among several, and we assess it on the same terms as the rest.
An umbrella employs the contractor across assignments, which gives the worker continuity of employment and a single employer, and lifts an administrative burden off the agency. For workers moving between bookings, or holding several at once, that is a real answer and often the right one.
What changed on 6 April 2026 is where the tax sits. Responsibility for operating PAYE and National Insurance on umbrella-engaged workers moved up the supply chain to the recruitment agency that supplies the worker, or to the end client where there is no agency. If an umbrella in your chain does not pay the tax over, HMRC can come to you for it.
That does not make umbrella the wrong route. It makes the choice one to take deliberately rather than inherit: a short preferred supplier list of accredited providers, contracts that reflect the new statutory position, and a documented evidence trail covering RTI submissions, deduction records and proof of remittance. We introduce providers who work that way, and we help set the standard you hold them to.
The things people ask before they ring
One question separates them: whose PAYE reference does the money run under. Under outsourced PAYE it runs under the provider's, the provider is the legal employer and the workers come off your books entirely. Under a payroll bureau it runs under yours, you remain the employer of record and the bureau operates the payroll on your behalf. Everything else — reporting, payslips, pensions, reconciliation — follows from that one fact.
Since 6 April 2026 responsibility for operating PAYE and National Insurance on workers engaged through umbrella companies sits with the recruitment agency that supplies the worker, or with the end client where there is no agency in the chain. If an umbrella in your chain does not pay the tax over, HMRC can come to you for it as the party with the statutory responsibility.
We arrange it. PAYE umbrella employment solves real problems — continuity of employment for workers moving between assignments, and a single employer for people holding several bookings at once — and where it fits, it fits. Our position is that we assess and match rather than argue against a route. What changed in April 2026 is that the choice deserves to be made deliberately, with accredited providers, a short preferred supplier list and a documented evidence trail.
Yes. Subcontractors are verified with HMRC and deducted at 20 per cent, 30 per cent or gross depending on their verification status. Monthly returns, payment and deduction statements and re-verification are all handled — re-verification being where agencies most often slip. CIS usually sits alongside another route for site management and internal staff.
No, and most agencies do not. A mixed book is normal: CIS for the trades, outsourced PAYE for site management, a bureau for long-serving staff and an Irish route for EU placements. We assess what you have, tell you plainly where it is already fine, and only introduce a provider where a change would actually help.
Read more
Agencies · Payroll
Every payroll option, assessed and matched: choosing payroll routes for a contract book
Provider-employed PAYE, outsourced PAYE, managed bureau, CIS or direct PAYE. How to choose payroll routes for a contract book by sector, volume and client requirement, and what a compliant provider panel looks like.
Outsourced PAYEPayroll bureauPAYE umbrellaAgencies7-minute readAgencies · Compliance
PAYE responsibility in the labour supply chain from April 2026: what agencies need to evidence
From 6 April 2026 responsibility for operating PAYE on provider-employed workers sits with the recruitment agency, or the end client where no agency exists. What to hold on file, what to put in contracts, and how to evidence it on any payroll route.
April 2026PAYE umbrellaAgenciesOutsourced PAYE6-minute read
Fifteen minutes will tell you where you stand
Whether you're a contractor after your next job, an agency placing across Europe, or a business that needs people found, paid and funded — start with a conversation. It costs nothing and we'll tell you honestly if we can't help. No form to fill in first.
info@freelancer-supermarket.co.uk