What is the minimum commitment for part-time support?

Two hours, at £35 an hour, with nothing committed in advance. Retainers start at 8 hours a month for £280 and run month to month with no long tie-in.

Can I change the number of hours later?

Yes. Retainers are reviewed month to month, so support scales up during a busy period and back down afterwards without a recruitment or redundancy process.

Do you work fixed days or flexible hours?

Hours are used flexibly across the month within UK business hours, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. Where a task genuinely needs a fixed slot — a weekly invoice run, for example — that is scheduled.

Is a part-time VA cheaper than a part-time employee?

For a small number of hours, almost always — because there are no employer on-costs, no equipment, no recruitment fee and no paid-but-unproductive time. The ROI calculator runs the comparison on your own numbers.

Part-time support

Part-time virtual assistant support for UK businesses

Most owner-managed businesses do not need a full-time administrator. They need six, eight or sixteen reliable hours a month on the work that keeps slipping. That is exactly what a part-time virtual assistant is for.

Book a free 20-min call

UK based, EnfieldFully insuredICO registeredUK GDPR compliantNo long tie-ins

A few hours a week

Eight or sixteen hours a month, reserved in the diary, used flexibly across inbox, diary, invoicing and follow-ups.

Busy spells only

Ad-hoc hours at £35 with a two-hour minimum, for a backlog, a launch, a tender or a month where everything landed at once.

No employment overhead

No employer National Insurance, pension, holiday pay, payroll processing, desk, laptop or notice period on top of the rate.

Why part-time beats a part-time hire

A part-time employee is still an employee. You carry recruitment cost, employer National Insurance, workplace pension contributions, statutory holiday and sick pay, payroll administration, equipment, and a notice period if the work dries up. You also pay for contracted hours whether or not there is work to fill them that week.

A part-time virtual assistant is billed on worked time only, with a timed breakdown of what was done. Sixteen hours a month at £560 is a fixed, predictable line in the accounts that can be scaled up for a busy quarter and back down again without a contractual conversation.

How few hours is worth doing?

Two. The ad-hoc minimum is a two-hour booking, and most clients start there deliberately — one specific task moved across, done properly, before anything longer term is agreed. It is a far cheaper way to find out whether delegating works for you than committing to a retainer on day one.

From there the usual progression is eight hours a month for inbox and invoicing, then sixteen once diary and client follow-ups move across too. Very few small businesses ever need more than thirty-two.

Scope

Typical part-time workload

Daily inbox triage, holding replies and filing
Diary management, meeting booking and reminders
Raising invoices and chasing overdue payments
Client onboarding packs and follow-up sequences
CRM tidying and data entry
Supplier emails and document formatting
Travel and appointment coordination
Backlog clear-outs and one-off projects

Questions

Common questions

What is the minimum commitment for part-time support?: Two hours, at £35 an hour, with nothing committed in advance. Retainers start at 8 hours a month for £280 and run month to month with no long tie-in.
Can I change the number of hours later?: Yes. Retainers are reviewed month to month, so support scales up during a busy period and back down afterwards without a recruitment or redundancy process.
Do you work fixed days or flexible hours?: Hours are used flexibly across the month within UK business hours, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. Where a task genuinely needs a fixed slot — a weekly invoice run, for example — that is scheduled.
Is a part-time VA cheaper than a part-time employee?: For a small number of hours, almost always — because there are no employer on-costs, no equipment, no recruitment fee and no paid-but-unproductive time. The ROI calculator runs the comparison on your own numbers.

Pricing VA vs employee ROI calculator What to delegate first

Not sure how many hours you actually need?

Twenty minutes on a call is usually enough to work out where your week is going and what the first few hours should cover.

Request a consultation