Payroll Services in the UK

Already have a UK entity, or running payroll across several countries? We place you with a vetted UK payroll partner who keeps PAYE, National Insurance, and pension auto-enrolment exactly right, while you stay the legal employer and we stay on your side.

  • Independent advice
  • Vetted partners
  • Multi-country ready

What running payroll in the UK involves

If you already employ people through your own UK entity (a limited company), you stay the legal employer, but you still have to run UK payroll correctly every month, with PAYE reported to HMRC in real time on each pay run, plus National Insurance and pension auto-enrolment. The system is detailed and errors are visible and penalised. This is where a specialist payroll partner earns its place: you keep the employment relationship, they keep the mechanics right.

01

You stay the employer

You stay the legal employer of your UK staff. The payroll partner runs the monthly mechanics; you keep the employment relationship.

02

Accurate every cycle

Income tax and National Insurance calculated and withheld correctly, payslips issued, and Real Time Information filed to HMRC on each pay run, every month.

03

Multi-country consolidation

Run payroll across several markets under one partner and one process, rather than a different vendor and standard in every country.

How managed UK payroll works, step by step

From onboarding your employee data to filing and reconciliation.

01 — Scope & onboard

We map your entity, headcount, and pay structure, place you with the right vetted UK payroll partner, and onboard your employee data.

02 — Set up calculations

Tax codes, National Insurance categories, and pension auto-enrolment configured correctly to current UK rules, so every payslip is right from the first run.

03 — Run monthly payroll

Salaries calculated, income tax and National Insurance withheld, payslips issued, and people paid on schedule, every cycle.

04 — File & reconcile

RTI submissions to HMRC made on each pay run, with P60s and year-end reconciliation handled for you.

What payroll in the UK costs

Your statutory employer costs, plus a payroll partner fee. The UK’s employer National Insurance and auto-enrolment add real detail; the value of the partner is accuracy and time, in a system where mistakes are visible and penalised.

Employer NI

15% NI above the GBP 5,000 threshold, plus the 3% pension auto-enrolment minimum, both configured correctly on every payroll run (eligible employers get some of the NI back via the Employment Allowance).

Minimum wage (2026)

National Living Wage is GBP 12.71 an hour for 21 and over from April 2026, with lower bands for under-21s and apprentices.

Income tax (employee)

Progressive at 0%, 20%, 40% and 45% across the 2026/27 bands, withheld through PAYE. Borne by the employee, calculated and filed correctly each pay run.

Payroll partner fee

A transparent per-employee or per-payslip fee. We benchmark across our vetted network, typically 15 to 25% below going direct.

Why run it through Bradford Jacobs

One partner, many countries

If you run payroll across several markets, we consolidate it through vetted partners under one point of contact, not a different vendor and a different standard in every country.

  • Independent advice
  • Vetted partners only
  • On your side at renewal

Pricing you can’t get direct

PAYE, employer NI, and pension auto-enrolment are set by law, the same wherever you run payroll in the UK. The variable is the processing partner’s own fee, and that is what we benchmark across our payroll network, typically 15 to 25% below going direct, renegotiated for you at renewal.

  • 15-25% below direct
  • Network benchmarking
  • Renegotiated for you

UK regulations that expose risk

The tax codes, the RTI deadlines, the auto-enrolment duties, the year-end P60s. We place you with partners who get the specifics right, and we stay on your side if anything needs escalating.

  • Direct escalation
  • No support queues
  • Named account contact

20+ years and the local detail

Two decades running compliant payroll across Europe. Scotland runs its own income tax bands, separate from the rest of the UK, and getting a Scottish-resident employee onto the correct band from month one is exactly the kind of detail two decades of doing this gets right by default.

  • Two decades of payroll
  • Deadlines & filings
  • Year-end handled

Built to scale across markets

Run payroll in one country or twenty through one partner and one process. As you add markets, the standard does not fragment, you keep a single point of contact and consistent compliance everywhere.

  • One process everywhere
  • Single point of contact
  • Consistent compliance

The mistakes HMRC penalises on autopilot

These are the ones that catch foreign employers, and the reason a specialist partner pays for itself.

Tax & NI bands

Applying the wrong tax code. Misjudging the National Insurance category. Missing pension auto-enrolment duties or a statutory payment under the Employment Rights Act. Each is easy to get wrong alone and visible to HMRC when you do.

Filings, deadlines & reporting

Late PAYE remittance or RTI submission, where penalties and interest apply automatically. None of these are hard for a specialist; all are easy to get wrong alone. That is the whole case for getting your UK payroll partner right.

What managed payroll covers

One transparent fee covers the full monthly payroll cycle. No hidden extras.

Tax & NI

Compliant UK payroll processed monthly, with income tax and National Insurance correct every run.

Payroll & filings

Monthly payroll run, with income tax and National Insurance calculated, withheld, and filed to HMRC correctly each month.

Statutory benefits

All statutory benefits administered: 5.6 weeks’ leave, statutory sick pay, pension auto-enrolment, parental leave, notice and redundancy.

Compliance & support

Ongoing HR compliance and a single point of contact, for the life of the engagement.

Your questions answered

Straight answers on running compliant payroll in the UK.

Do I need a UK entity to use payroll services?

Yes. Payroll outsourcing assumes you are the legal employer, which means you have a UK entity (a limited company). If you have no entity and do not want one yet, you need an EOR instead, where the partner is the legal employer. We will confirm which applies to you.

Income tax calculation and remittance, employer and employee National Insurance, pension auto-enrolment, statutory benefits and leave, payslips, and RTI filings to HMRC, with year-end P60s. You keep the employment relationship; they keep it compliant and on time.

PAYE (Pay As You Earn) is how UK income tax and National Insurance are withheld at source. Real Time Information (RTI) means each pay run is reported to HMRC as it happens, not annually. A good payroll partner files RTI correctly every run. Getting it wrong is one of the most common foreign-employer mistakes.

Employer National Insurance is 15% on earnings above the threshold, plus the minimum 3% pension contribution; the smaller 8% employee NI rate is withheld from their own pay between GBP 242 and GBP 967 a week, 2% above that. Add the transparent payroll partner fee and you have your all-in cost.

Yes, and it is one of the main reasons companies come to us. One point of contact and a consistent process across markets, rather than a separate provider and a different standard in every country.

Yes. When you incorporate and become the legal employer, we move your people from the EOR arrangement onto your own compliant UK payroll, and manage the handover so nothing is missed.

Need compliant payroll in the UK?

Tell us your entity setup and headcount and we will come back with the right partner and pricing you will not get direct, usually within a day. One process, every country you operate in.

Tax and labour data verified June 2026 (HMRC, ACAS, OECD). Figures change; we confirm the current position when we scope your payroll.