Pricing
What a virtual assistant costs in the UK
No packages you have to decode and no "contact us for pricing". Ad-hoc work is £35 per hour, with tiered monthly retainers from £280, and you pay for worked time only — no National Insurance, pension, holiday pay or equipment on top.
Book a free 20-min callThe rates
Four ways to work together
Most clients start ad-hoc on one specific task, then move onto a retainer once the real monthly workload is known. Moving between tiers is a conversation, not a renegotiation.
Ad-hoc hours
£35
per hour
£35 effective hourly rate
One-off projects, backlogs and busy spells with nothing committed in advance.
- Two-hour minimum booking
- No monthly commitment
- Booked as and when you need it
- Ideal for a first trial task
Essential Retainer
£280
per month · 8 hours
£35 effective hourly rate
Perfect for businesses needing consistent support without committing to a larger package.
- Guaranteed hours reserved in my diary
- Priority over ad-hoc bookings
- Predictable monthly support costs
- Flexible use of hours across the month
- Ideal for keeping control of recurring admin
Professional Retainer
£560
per month · 16 hours
£35 effective hourly rate
For businesses ready to delegate regular administrative responsibilities.
- Everything in Essential
- Increased monthly capacity
- Priority response times
- Up to 1 unused hour rolled into the following month
- Designed for ongoing, weekly support
Executive Retainer
£1,100
per month · 32 hours
£34.38 effective hourly rate
Dedicated executive support for businesses ready to properly hand over their admin.
- Everything in Professional
- Highest priority in my diary
- Up to 2 unused hours rolled over
- Greater flexibility to scale support month to month
- Consistent support from someone who understands your business
Packages
Fixed-price packages
Prefer a set monthly figure to hourly billing? These packages cover the jobs clients hand over first, at a price agreed up front.
Email & Diary Management
Trying to stay on top of emails and book meetings while juggling other important work can quickly eat into your day.
What's included
- Inbox checked twice daily (Mon–Fri)
- Enquiries answered with holding emails and stock replies
- Urgent emails flagged to you so nothing is missed
- Non-urgent email filed and archived
- Meetings and appointments arranged
- Smart folder set-up for better organisation
- Unsubscribing from unwanted mailing lists
£700per month
Book a free discovery callSocial Media Support
Keep the conversation going even when you're focused elsewhere — your online presence stays active and authentic, five days a week.
What's included
- Managing inbox messages and DMs (LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X, Threads)
- Scheduling posts from your ready-to-go content
- Sending and approving connection requests with your ideal audience
- Filtering out spam, deleting unwanted comments and keeping your space positive
£700per month
Book a free discovery callOne-Off Inbox Detox
Inbox overflowing and you're unsure where to begin? Too many subscriptions and newsletters? Let's clear the clutter and give you a clean start.
What's included
- Review and clean up of your existing inbox
- Unsubscribing from unwanted mailing lists and spam
- Spam and junk filter set-up
- Folder and label creation
- Sorting and filing existing email into relevant categories for easy access
£200one-off project
Book a free discovery callIncluded
What the rate covers
- Only productive, worked time is billed
- Your own systems — no software to buy or migrate to
- Written confidentiality agreement as standard
- UK business hours, UK time zone, one named person
- No recruitment, onboarding or training cost
- No desk, equipment or office overhead
Never charged
What you don't pay for
- Employer National Insurance
- Workplace pension contributions
- Holiday pay and bank holidays
- Sick pay and cover during absence
- Payroll administration
- Redundancy or notice-period liability
This is the part that makes an hourly comparison against a salary misleading. See the VA versus employee breakdown.
Worked examples
What common tasks actually cost
Indicative ranges based on typical small-business workloads. Your first call establishes real numbers for your business rather than these averages.
| Task | Typical time | Indicative cost |
|---|---|---|
| Daily inbox triage and replies | 5–7 hours a month | £175–£245 |
| Raising and chasing monthly invoices | 3–5 hours a month | £105–£175 |
| Diary, travel and meeting coordination | 4–6 hours a month | £140–£210 |
| Client onboarding packs and follow-ups | 4–8 hours a month | £140–£280 |
| One-off filing, CRM or backlog clear-out | 6–12 hours, once | £210–£420 |
Want the numbers for your own week? The ROI calculator and the quote builder work it out in under a minute.
Questions
Pricing FAQs
- How much does a virtual assistant cost in the UK?
- UK virtual assistant rates commonly sit somewhere between roughly £25 and £50 per hour depending on experience, specialism and whether you go through an agency. Wise Resolutions charges £35 per hour ad-hoc, with monthly retainers at £280 for 8 hours, £560 for 16 hours and £1,100 for 32 hours.
- Why is a virtual assistant more per hour than an employee?
- Because you are only paying for worked hours and nothing else. There is no employer National Insurance, pension contribution, holiday pay, sick pay, payroll admin, equipment, desk space, recruitment fee or notice period on top. Comparing a VA hourly rate directly against a salary hourly rate is not a like-for-like comparison.
- What is the minimum I can spend?
- Two hours — £70. Most clients start with a single specific task on ad-hoc hours before deciding whether a retainer makes sense.
- Is there a contract or tie-in?
- Ad-hoc work carries no commitment at all. Retainers run month to month with no long tie-in, so support can be scaled back or paused when your workload changes.
- Do unused retainer hours roll over?
- Up to one unused hour rolls into the following month on the Professional retainer and up to two on the Executive retainer. Beyond that, hours reset — a retainer reserves guaranteed capacity in the diary and gives you priority over ad-hoc bookings.
- Are rates higher for clients outside London?
- No. Rates are identical everywhere in the UK because support is delivered remotely. Location makes no difference to price or response time.
- How and when am I invoiced?
- Retainers are invoiced monthly in advance. Ad-hoc work is invoiced on completion, with a timed breakdown of what was done so you can see exactly where the hours went.
- Do you charge for the initial call?
- No. The introductory consultation is free and carries no obligation. Its purpose is to work out where your hours are actually going and whether delegating is worth it for you at all.
Get a straight answer on what your admin would cost
Twenty minutes, no obligation, and an honest view on whether delegating is worth it for you yet.
Request a consultation