United Kingdom
Guides and free tools for UK recruitment agencies
Practical guides on contract and temp recruitment, running an agency and UK employment law, with free calculators built on UK rules. Written for agencies that place permanent staff and day-rate contractors.
Where Marvin fits for a UK agency
What Marvin does
- Placements and contractor assignments in one place, with the client day rate and the contractor’s rate.
- Contractor timesheets in days and half-days, signed off by the client from a secure link, without an account.
- Client invoices drafted from approved days at the day rate set on the assignment.
- A contractor portal for timesheets, shared documents and contractor invoices.
What Marvin does not do
- It does not run PAYE or RTI payroll and does not produce payslips.
- It does not determine IR35 status.
- It does not handle hourly or shift-based timesheets.
Contract and temp
Timesheets, agency worker rules, IR35 and umbrella companies.
- Agency workers in the UK: the AWR 12-week rule, the Key Information Document and transfer feesWhat a UK employment business has to get right when it supplies temps and contractors: equal treatment after 12 weeks, day-one rights, the Key Information Document, temp-to-perm transfer fees and who enforces the rules since April 2026.
- Contract and temp recruitment software: what a UK agency actually needsA contract desk does not work like a perm desk: assignments, rates, timesheets, invoices and redeployment all have to live in the same place. What to look for, and where Marvin fits.
- IR35 for recruitment agencies: the SDS, the fee-payer and the 2025 size thresholdsWho decides IR35 status, what a Status Determination Statement is, when your agency becomes the deemed employer, and what the higher company size thresholds from 6 April 2025 change, and when.
- Timesheet software for recruitment agencies: from contractor timesheet to client invoiceHow a contract desk can collect contractor timesheets, get client sign-off without another login, chase late submissions automatically and turn approved days into invoices, without re-keying anything.
- Umbrella company PAYE rules from April 2026: what recruitment agencies must checkSince 6 April 2026, the agency that contracts with the end client can be made to pay the PAYE an umbrella company failed to pay. Who is liable, what HMRC expects you to check, and what is still coming in 2027.
Starting and running an agency
Setting up, terms of business, invoicing, getting paid and data protection.
- AI copilot for recruitment agencies: what it can (and can’t) doAn AI copilot inside your recruitment CRM can search, match, score and draft. What a UK agency should expect from one, where a recruiter must stay in charge, and how Marvin’s Copilot works in Desk.
- LinkedIn sourcing and multichannel outreach for UK recruitersHow to source candidates on LinkedIn and run email, LinkedIn and WhatsApp sequences without burning your accounts or your reputation, and what the UK GDPR expects when you contact people who never applied.
- MCP for recruitment agencies: connect Claude or ChatGPT to your CRMWhat an MCP server lets a recruiter do from Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor: search the candidate pool, score a shortlist, prepare a brief, update the pipeline. How to connect Marvin’s MCP server, and the safeguards around it.
- Late payment of invoices in the UK: payment terms, statutory interest and compensationWhen a business-to-business invoice becomes late in the UK, how statutory interest of 8% above base rate is calculated, the fixed compensation of £40, £70 or £100, and where the Commercial Payments Bill stands.
- AI, MCP and UK GDPR: what recruitment agencies must check before connecting Claude or ChatGPT to their CRMConnecting an AI assistant to your recruitment CRM through MCP moves candidate data into a new tool. What UK GDPR and the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 require, and a checklist to run before you switch it on.
- Recruitment agency terms of business template (UK): perm fees, temp-to-perm and contractor clausesAn annotated outline of the clauses UK recruitment agencies put in their terms of business: placement fees, rebates, temp-to-perm transfer fees that comply with regulation 10, and clauses for contractors. A starting point to review with a solicitor.
- Starting a recruitment agency in the UK: sole trader or limited company, and the rules you must followSole trader or limited company, HMRC registration, the VAT threshold, Making Tax Digital, and the recruitment-specific rules: no fees to candidates, the Key Information Document, licences and the Fair Work Agency.
- UK e-invoicing mandate 2029 and Making Tax Digital: what recruitment agencies need to knowWhat the government has actually announced about mandatory e-invoicing for VAT invoices from April 2029, what is still undecided, and the Making Tax Digital deadlines that already apply to agencies and sole traders.
Employment law
Contracts, probation, right to work checks, equality and the Employment Rights Act 2025.
- Equality Act 2010 for recruiters: protected characteristics, fair job ads and shortlistsThe nine protected characteristics, what the Equality Act 2010 means for job adverts, shortlists and health questions, where positive action ends and unlawful positive discrimination begins, and the gender pay gap reporting rules for 250+ employees.
- Hiring an apprentice in England: wage, levy and fundingWhat an employer in England must do to take on an apprentice: the £8 apprentice minimum wage, who pays the 0.5% Apprenticeship Levy, how training is funded, the £2,000 hiring payment for non-levy employers and the rules on contracts, training time and flexi-job agencies.
- Probation periods in the UK: length, extension and ending oneProbation is not a legal requirement in the UK, and it can be any length. What has to be in writing, how to extend it, how to end it fairly, what changes when unfair dismissal protection starts after six months from 1 January 2027, and two annotated letter templates.
- UK employment contract types explainedPermanent, fixed-term, zero-hours, agency workers and contractors: what each contract means in the UK, which rights come with it, and why employment status (employee, worker or self-employed) matters more than the label on the contract.
- Written statement of employment particulars: what UK employers must give on day oneWhat the written statement of employment particulars must contain, what is due on the first day and what can wait two months, how to record changes, why a job description is not compulsory, and a checklist for UK employers.
- Employment Rights Act 2025: the timeline for recruitment agenciesRoyal Assent, the Fair Work Agency, six-month tribunal claims, six months' service for unfair dismissal, guaranteed hours and umbrella regulation: the dates a recruitment agency needs, with the government's own caveats.
- Right to work checks for recruitment agencies: what changed in October 2026Since 1 October 2026, the Right to Work Scheme covers workers, individual sub-contractors and some contractual chains, not only employees. Who checks in an agency supply chain, the penalties, and what the new Home Office guide says.
Free tools
Calculators and a timesheet template built on UK rules.
- Contractor day rate calculatorTurn a permanent salary into an equivalent gross day rate.
- Recruitment fee calculatorPlacement fee as a percentage of salary, with VAT.
- Contract margin calculatorPay rate against charge rate: margin, markup and total.
- Late payment interest calculatorStatutory interest and fixed compensation on a late invoice.
- Contractor timesheet templateMonthly timesheet in days and half-days, with client sign-off.
- Working time and holiday calculatorStatutory holiday, 12.07% accrual and the 48-hour average.
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