Comparator

With 26 years of payroll expertise, Sterling Solutions delivers compliant, efficient, and contractor-friendly service.

Why Contractors Choose Sterling • Pension Flexibility – Pay into a pension of your choice, not just the workplace scheme. • Fast, Easy Onboarding – Includes tailored payslip illustrations. • Expense Claims – Mileage reimbursement available (subject to assessment). • Comprehensive Insurance Cover – Personal Accident, Employers & Public Liability. • Optional Professional Indemnity Insurance • Holiday Pay – Paid upfront. • Sterling App – Manage your employment and payments on the go. • UKMC Mortgage Advice – Free, expert guidance. • VeriPAYE Audited Payslips – Every payment checked for accuracy. • Sterling Rewards – Discounts on shopping, travel, entertainment & more. • Medicash Health Plans – Support for everyday healthcare costs.

With over 20 years of experience, Parasol has grown from providing umbrella payroll services to offering comprehensive employment and payroll solutions. During this time, we’ve supported more than 250,000 professionals and partnered with over 3,000 recruitment agencies and end clients.

We understand the critical priorities for your candidates, clients, and agency: exceptional support, on-time payments, and full compliance with HMRC regulations. These are at the heart of everything we do and are reflected in the loyalty of professionals who choose us year after year, as well as our long-standing partnerships with some of the most recognised names in recruitment. As a founding member of the FCSA and a company created by a contractor for contractors, Parasol makes getting paid simple for the agile workforce. Since our launch in 2000, our goal has been to empower contractors to maximise their careers by offering complete peace of mind through accurate, compliant, and reliable payroll services.

Speedy Onboarding

Getting started is simple. Agencies provide basic details and terms; contractors complete a quick Right to Work check via Trust ID (just three minutes). We handle all paperwork and contracts for a smooth process.

Compliance-First

As an FCSA founding member, we set the gold standard in UK tax, employment, and regulatory compliance—giving agencies and contractors complete peace of mind.

Security & Stability

We safeguard your data with Cyber Essentials Plus certification and maintain strong financial stability to ensure uninterrupted payroll services.

Trusted Guidance

Our expert teams offer tailored support, onboarding assistance, and training workshops—the largest agency and employee support network in the sector.

Established in 2002, ICS Accounting has been supporting contractors, freelancers and small business owners across the UK for over 18 years. Our ethos of trust, care and compliance enable you to focus on your job without the task of endless paperwork, ensuring you are operating compliantly.

The ICS Accounting Umbrella solution provides an employment solution for independent workers, taking the stress out of contracting. ICS Accounting will process your pay either weekly or monthly, paying relevant Tax and NI liabilities to HMRC and the rest to yourself, ensuring you’re paid accurately and on time. As an employee, you will receive full employment rights, including holiday pay and sick pay, cover from our comprehensive insurances and access to our comprehensive employee benefits portal. Through the portal, you can manage your pay and pension, find huge discounts on your shopping, access an online GP with email prescriptions and much more!

Why Core?

We put you first! We have a team of experts here to ensure you have all the support you may want or need through every process. We work hard to ensure our reputation is second to none and you can rest assured that compliance, efficiency, and professionalism are key values we uphold here at Core. We are an accredited member of Professional Passport and a tier one founding member of trade association body Prism.

Lauren Baker also sits on the executive board of Prism as their Payroll Intermediary Representative, meaning we are always ahead of the curve when it comes to legislation changes. We work with thousands of contractors in both the Public and Private Sectors and are specialists in IR35, allowing you to safely navigate this legislation and get on with what you do best, your contracting work. We would welcome a call; Matt and the team would be delighted to hear from you on 0800 211 8121. You’ll receive:

• Dedicated Relationship manager

• Set up (paperless) in as little as 24 hours with no exit fee

• Online portal for payslips and document viewing

• IR35 assessments

• Weekly, Bi-Weekly or Monthly payroll services

• Insurance cover, Professional Indemnity up to £5 million, Employers Liability up to £10 million, Public Liability up to £10 million

• Workplace pension via NOW or Salary Sacrifice

• Full statutory employment rights

We’re Focused – the award-winning umbrella and CIS company for contractors who want prompt and accurate payment every time. Voted Best Umbrella Company (500-1000 clients) at The Contracting Awards, we offer unmatched reliability, quick and easy onboarding, and a genuinely caring approach for total peace of mind.

From payroll to tax, benefits to pensions, we take care of everything. With Focused, contractors can be confident they’ve got their money, and we’ve got them covered. We keep things simple while truly caring about the wants and needs of our contractors and agency partners.

Here are just some of the benefits of working with Focused:

• Salary sacrifice for personal pensions - Helping contractors save for their future whilst also passing on the employer’s NI saving in the form of additional gross pay.

• Online personal portal – Easy access to payslips and submit timesheets where necessary.

• Award-winning support – A dedicated helpline for any questions, weekly payment SMS notifications and proactive welcome calls.

• Free employee rewards scheme – Access to personal accident insurance and exclusive offers and discounts at thousands of high-street brands.

Winner of ‘Best Umbrella Company’ at The Contracting Awards 2019 and 2022 finalists. Contractor Umbrella was established in 2001, as one of the most trusted, longest standing umbrella companies in the UK, we ‘guarantee’ our employees peace of mind, absolute compliance and complete security.

• You can chat with us by phone, email or via our Livechat.
• Fully accredited by FCSA, so you can rest assured that you are working with a compliant business.
• New contractors can register online in just a few minutes.
• You will have your very own dedicated Contract Manager.
• Make tax and NI savings by contributing a portion of your earnings into our company pension or your personal pension fund/SIPP. • Same day payments offered as standard, every working day.
• Fixed margin rate and we only deduct our margin when we are paying you.
• We offer a Service Guarantee to ensure that you will be looked after at every step of the way.
• Contractor Umbrella offer an employee rewards scheme which includes a fuel discount card, foreign currency exchange, contractor accommodation, contractor mortgages and much more.
• Included is a comprehensive £20m insurance package.
• Contractor Umbrella employees are entitled to 5.6 weeks of holiday each year.
• Flexible limited company accountancy - when you sign up to our sister company Dolan Accountancy’s monthly accountancy package (£105 + vat).

Compass is leading the way in umbrella employment. Whether you are new to contracting or have been one for some time, Compass has the experience and range of solutions to ensure you are provided with the solution that works best for you. We are committed to providing you with hassle free payment solutions, excellent customer care, market leading technology and reliable compliance based on expert knowledge and industry experience.

Big Fish Group - an authentic, dedicated, and compliant umbrella company you can trust. Big Fish Group Limited provides umbrella PAYE payroll, CIS and accountancy support services for contractors and UK recruitment agencies. We are a well-established and credible umbrella company that challenges the traditional stereotype of what an umbrella company does. We go about our business with a smile on our faces and a genuine passion for what we do.

A female owned business who together have over 28 combined years of experience in the sector. We understand that credibility, reliability and compliance are the critical elements that contractors, agencies, and end clients need from an umbrella company. We’re a friendly yet straight-talking business committed to providing the services our contractors and agency partners need. We appreciate the things that matter to our customers, and we’ll do whatever we can to ensure we deliver. No matter what day or time it is.

We live life to the full and work with a spring in our step and a glint in our eye, but we’ll never compromise on quality or compliance. Contractors can rest assured that our contractor payroll services ensure they get paid correctly and on time. Our agency partners can trust us to provide their contractors with unrivalled customer service and support, especially out of hours/ over the weekend.

Our accreditation with Professional Passport means that we are independently audited each year to ensure our processes and systems comply with UK tax law and associated legislation. Our contractors and recruitment agency partners can rest assured that your welfare and reputation will always be our priority.

Whether you are a contractor looking for an Umbrella Company or a recruitment agency looking for a reputable payroll provider, MyPay is the perfect choice.

Established in 2007, MyPay was set up with a clear vision, to provide a compliant, easy to understand, professional and friendly Umbrella Company for all parties.

With a personal Account Manager allocated to each new member providing help and guidance throughout their assignments, members can be sure of building a valued and trusted relationship with MyPay throughout their employment.

MyPay’s nationwide agency team can provide updates and training on any new legislation which impacts contractors, agencies and end clients, as well as providing office visits to ensure the smooth running of the day to day account. As an FCSA Accredited Member you can trust that MyPay are compliant in all aspects of our service and can provide the supporting documentation needed for any agency/ supply chain audit.

Due to our levels of service, MyPay has achieved growth year on year and have won multiple awards during this time:

2015 – One of Thousand Companies to Inspire Britain (London Stock Exchange) 2016 – One of Thousand Companies to Inspire Britain (London Stock Exchange) 2017 – Thousand Fastest Growing Companies in Europe (Financial Times) Benefits of MyPay Quick and easy set up procedure (can be done within the hour) Competitive margin All payments made via FastPay (ensuring funds are paid in the shortest possible time) Multiple payrolls per day Full account managed service FCSA Accredited Member Full £21 million insurance cover (including professional indemnity and medical malpractice) Full employment rights including SSP/ SMP/ SPP Online portal SMS notification when paid