Business Services in the UK
Someone to answer the phone in the company's name while you are on the roof, a virtual assistant who clears the inbox and books the diary, the invoices raised and chased every Friday, an HR adviser for the first employee, a registered office address that is not your kitchen, IT support on a monthly contract, or the print and the post handled without a trip to town: find the business services near you.
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Finding the right business services in the UK
Business services are the jobs a small firm needs done that are not the trade itself: virtual assistants and outsourced admin for email, diaries, documents, research and customer service; telephone answering and call handling in your company's name; bookkeeping, invoicing, credit control and payroll; HR advice, contracts and handbooks; company formation, registered office and mail handling; IT support, cloud and cyber security; printing, design and signage; translation, transcription and minute taking; and the serviced offices, meeting rooms and business centres they often operate from. Most are provided by local firms and freelancers who know the businesses around them, and by national providers online.
The point of outsourcing is time and cover: paying £30 an hour for a virtual assistant to do what would take you three hours of an evening is cheap when your own hour bills at £60, and a call answering service that never misses a lead pays for itself on the first job it catches; the mistake is outsourcing what needs the owner's judgement or what a good system would remove altogether. Look for providers with experience of businesses your size and trade, clear pricing by the hour, the month or the task, confidentiality and data protection in the contract, insurance, and references you can ring; start with one task and a month's trial, and keep your own logins, accounts and data in your name.
The listings here show each provider's services, sectors, pricing and packages, hours and cover, accreditations and contact details, so you can see who is nearby, who does the jobs you want off your desk, and where small firms in your town go for the back office.
What business services cover
Admin and virtual assistants: inbox and diary management, documents and presentations, data entry and research, customer service, social media scheduling, travel and event organising, by the hour or on a monthly retainer.
Phones and front of house: telephone answering in your company's name, message taking and diary booking, overflow and out-of-hours cover, live chat, and reception at business centres.
Finance and people: bookkeeping, invoicing and credit control, payroll and pensions, VAT returns, and HR advice, contracts, handbooks, recruitment admin and outsourced HR.
Company and compliance: company formation, registered office and mail handling, virtual office addresses, data protection and GDPR, health and safety documentation, and ISO and accreditation support.
Technology, print and communication: IT support contracts, cloud, email and cyber security, websites and hosting, printing, design and signage, translation, transcription and minute taking.
Before you outsource a business task
- Write down the task, how often, what good looks like and what access it needs; a clear brief gets a clear price.
- Ask how they charge: by the hour, a monthly block of hours, a per-task rate or a retainer, and what happens to unused hours.
- Check confidentiality, data protection and insurance in the contract, and where your data is stored.
- Ask for references from businesses like yours and start with one task for a month.
- Keep logins, domains, accounts and documents in your name, so you can change provider without losing anything.
- Agree response times and cover for holidays and sickness; a sole trader assistant needs a backup.
What business services cost in the UK
As a rough guide, a UK virtual assistant charges £25 to £45 an hour or £250 to £900 a month for a block of 10 to 20 hours, with agencies at the top and offshore assistants far cheaper but harder to manage; telephone answering £20 to £60 a month plus £1 to £2 a call, or £80 to £250 a month for a busy line; bookkeeping £25 to £45 an hour or £100 to £400 a month for a small business, payroll £5 to £10 per employee per month, and outsourced HR £80 to £300 a month; a registered office and mail handling £20 to £60 a month; IT support £30 to £80 per user per month; company formation £50 to £150; and transcription £1 to £1.50 a minute of audio. Most providers discount a monthly commitment against ad hoc hours.
A £120-a-month answering service that catches one £500 job a quarter has paid for itself, and the customer never knew you were up a ladder.
How do I find business services near me?+
Look at the business services listed for your town, which show each provider's services, sectors, pricing and packages, hours and cover, accreditations and reviews; pick a provider with experience of firms like yours, brief the task clearly, check confidentiality and insurance, and start with a month's trial on one job.
What does a virtual assistant do?+
Remote admin and support by the hour or on a monthly retainer: managing your inbox and diary, preparing documents and quotes, chasing invoices, booking travel and appointments, handling customer enquiries, research, data entry, social media scheduling and whatever else takes your evenings; UK virtual assistants charge £25 to £45 an hour, many specialise in a trade or profession, and a good one becomes the office you never had.
How much does a telephone answering service cost?+
Typically £20 to £60 a month plus £1 to £2 per call for a low-volume line, and £80 to £250 a month for a busy one, with messages sent by text or email, calls answered in your company's name, diary bookings and out-of-hours cover; it suits tradespeople, clinics and any business that loses work to voicemail. Test it by ringing your own number.
When should a small business outsource its admin?+
When the owner's time is worth more doing the trade than the admin, when work is being missed or delayed because nobody answers or invoices go out late, and before the first employee, since a virtual assistant costs less and carries no employment obligations; outsource the repeatable tasks first, keep judgement and customer relationships in-house, and fix the process before paying someone to run a bad one.
Is it safe to give a virtual assistant access to my email and accounts?+
With the right provider, yes: use a written contract with confidentiality and data protection terms, give access through your own accounts with separate logins and permissions rather than sharing passwords, use a password manager, limit what they can see to what the task needs, and check they are registered with the ICO and insured. Keep everything in your name so access can be removed in a minute.
What is a virtual office?+
A business address at a business centre or provider for your registered office, post and website, with mail scanned or forwarded and, if you want, calls answered and meeting rooms available, for £20 to £60 a month; it gives a home-based business a professional address and keeps your home off the public record. Most providers also offer the telephone answering and admin services alongside.
How do I get my business listed?+
It is free. Add your business in about two minutes to appear on this page and your local town directory. Upgrade to Featured for £2.99 a month to sit above the free listings.