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We're former marketers who recruit for marketing, digital & eCommerce. We know hiring can feel like a risk - which is why we built a fee structure that actually shares the risk with you, until you're sure you've made the right hire.
We're former marketers who recruit for marketing, digital & eCommerce. We know hiring can feel like a risk - which is why we built a fee structure that actually shares the risk with you, until you're sure you've made the right hire.
Six months on the clock. With every hire.
As marketers who've managed or hired for many of the roles we now recruit for, we know what it's like sitting on your side of the desk. We've been on the receiving end of recruitment that places all the risk onto the hiring company, that's why we built a model that shares the risk.
Our fee for permanent hires is 20%, the same as most agencies, but that's where the similarity ends. We charge 25% on engagement, 25% when your candidate accepts, and the remaining half only once your hire has been with you six months.
That six-month point isn't arbitrary. From 1 January 2027, the Employment Rights Act, the biggest shakeup in employment legislation in decades, cuts the unfair dismissal qualification period from two years to six months. We built our fee structure around the same milestone.
Most agencies offer a rebate that tapers out by week 12. Ours isn't a rebate. Half your fee simply isn't due until six months in, no taper, nothing to claim back. If it doesn't work out before then, you don't pay another penny.
For growing businesses it matters even more, you're not absorbing a five-figure fee in one hit on top of the new hire's own salary. Six months is the point a hire either works out or it doesn't. Our final invoice won't arrive until you're over that line, so by the time we ask for the final half of our fee, you already know you made the right hire.
Trusted by
Trusted by
“Having Ed come into our business and spend time with both the management team, and the workforce, was a real game changer in the hiring process.”
Managing Director, IQPC Digital.
“Ed's a great recruiter - very good at finding excellent people"
Greg Jackson, CEO & Founder, Octopus Energy
Our expertise
Our expertise
Time to Hire is a specialist recruitment agency for digital marketing, e-commerce and digital transformation roles - from Marketing Manager to CMO. We work across interim, executive search, team builds and fractional in-house recruitment, with a fee model that shares the risk on every hire.
Recent searches include: Digital Marketing Manager, Head of Digital, Digital Director, Marketing Manager, Head of Marketing, Marketing Director, Head of e-Commerce, Chief Digital Officer, Chief Marketing Officer, CEO, Head of Growth & Growth Marketing Manager.
Interim & Contract
During periods of growth, transition or absence, we draw on our extensive network of experienced digital practitioners to help clients identify the safe pair of hands for their business, anywhere, at short notice - saving time, money & frustration.
Projects & Team Builds
Whether you're migrating digital services in-house, scaling, or building a new digital team from scratch - team builds can be expensive. Talk to us about how we can help with highly cost-effective team builds on a project basis.
Fractional In-house
Fractional in-house recruitment on a part-time or project-basis, offering a flexible and cost-effective alternative to full-time recruitment teams, allowing you to access specialised expertise without long-term commitments.
Executive Search
Whether you've had a team exit, or you're experiencing fast growth and need people urgently, we can move quickly to help you secure the best potential candidates in the market.
We'll work around the clock to help you shape the right brief, and identify the best people anywhere in the world, to the tightest of deadlines - often, where others have already tried, and failed.
Still not convinced?
Still notconvinced?
“Ed supported us on one of our key senior hires in our digital transformation journey. What really impressed us, was that Ed, true to his word, flew out to Singapore to meet all the candidates in person!"
Head of People, IDP Education
“Ed is extremely knowledgeable and was able to quickly grasp our requirements, translating these to candidates interested and engaged to explore the opportunity further with us."
HR Officer, England Golf
Let's talk!
Let's talk!
FAQ
FAQ
How does your fee model actually work?
We charge 25% on engagement, 25% when your candidate accepts the offer, and the remaining 50% only once they've been in place for six months. If the hire doesn't work out before then, you don't pay the final instalment. No rebate to chase, no small print to argue over.
Why six months specifically?
A few reasons. It's roughly the point most businesses genuinely know whether a hire is working, past the induction period, past the "still finding their feet" phase. It also lines up with the new legal reality: from January 2027, the qualifying period for unfair dismissal protection drops from two years to six months, and the compensation cap goes with it. That's the point a hire either works out or it doesn't. Our final invoice won't arrive until you're over that hurdle, so by the time we're asking for the rest of our fee, you already know it's worked out.
Is this basically a rebate scheme with extra steps?
No, although it's a fair question. A rebate is money you've already paid being partially returned, usually on a sliding scale that shrinks the longer someone's in post. Ours is the opposite structure: the money was never due in the first place. Nothing to claim back, nothing that tapers, nothing to negotiate.
What if the hire leaves after five months and three weeks?
You don't pay the final 50%. The six-month mark is the mark, not a rough guide. If it doesn't work out before then, that instalment simply isn't due.
What counts as "not working out"?
Broadly, the hire leaving or being let go before the six-month point, whether that's their decision or yours. We don't get into whose fault it was. If they're not in their role at six months, the final fee simply isn't due.
Does this mean your total fee is lower than a traditional agency?
Not necessarily lower, just structured differently. Our headline rate is 20%, in line with the market. The difference isn't the number, it's when it's due and what happens if things don't work out. A traditional contingent or retained agency will usually have the bulk of, or the entire fee, paid before you know whether things are going to work out. We don't.
What happens with the first two payments if the hire doesn't work out?
Those cover the search itself, the work of finding, assessing and presenting the right person - including travel to meet with you, and potential candidates, and they're not refundable. That work happens regardless of outcome. It's only the final 50%, tied to the hire actually being in place for six months, that's conditional.
What roles do you recruit for?
Marketing, digital and e-commerce roles, from Marketing Manager through to CMO. We work across interim, executive search, team builds and fractional in-house recruitment, but the common thread is always marketing, digital and eCommerce.
What makes you different from a typical recruiter?
Two things, really. The fee structure is one. The other is that we've sat client-side, hiring for these exact roles, before ever becoming recruiters. That changes what we ask candidates, what we push back on with clients, and what we actually think "a good hire" looks like, because we've lived with the consequences of a bad one.
Do you only do retained search, or contingency too?
Retained only. We think contingency, where multiple agencies compete on the same brief with no fee unless they win, encourages exactly the wrong behaviours: speed over fit, volume over quality, and very little incentive to walk away from a candidate (or a potential client) who isn't right. Retained means we're working exclusively for you, properly, from day one.
What's the actual process once we engage you?
It starts with understanding the business, not just the job spec.
Where we can, we'll visit in person, because telling a candidate "it's a great culture" means nothing unless we've actually seen it ourselves. We'll research the market on your behalf too, comparable roles, realistic salary ranges, how remote or hybrid expectations affect the pool you're fishing in, so you know exactly what you're working with before anything starts.
From there it's proper job ad copy rather than a templated spec, discreet outreach to people who aren't actively job hunting, and screening that's done through real conversations, not CV filtering or AI shortcuts.
By the time someone reaches you, we've already asked ourselves whether we'd hire them onto our own team. If the answer's no, you don't see them.Do you approach passive candidates?
Yes, and for senior marketing roles that's typically where we find people, not from ads. Somebody doing a great job right now isn't browsing job boards. Reaching them takes a direct approach, not an advert.
How long does a typical search take?
Most run somewhere between 3 and 8 weeks from brief to offer, though where you land in that range depends on the role, seniority, location and how tightly defined the brief is. A Head of Digital Marketing in London with a broad remit moves faster than a Marketing Director in a niche B2B sector with a smaller talent pool.
We'd rather give an honest estimate at the brief stage than a generic number, since pretending every search takes the same time doesn't help anyone plan.
Some of the roles we do best on are the genuinely hard ones, briefs that have already been through one or two other agencies without success. We don't shy away from those, and part of the point of our fee model is that it removes the pressure to rush a shortlist just to get paid.What if we want to hire more than one role at once?
That's exactly the kind of situation our fractional and team-build work is designed for, whether that's building out a marketing function from scratch or filling several roles in parallel. Worth a conversation so we can scope what actually makes sense for the size of what you're building.
Do you offer any kind of guarantee beyond the fee structure?
The fee structure is the guarantee, in effect. Rather than a bolt-on replacement clause with its own exclusions and small print, the entire final half of our fee is the guarantee. If the hire doesn't work out, we don't get paid for it.
What happens if we want to pause or cancel a search partway through?
Get in touch and we'll talk it through. Every situation's a little different depending on how far into the search we are, but we'd always rather have an honest conversation than force a process that no longer makes sense for you.
Can you help with interim or fractional roles, not just permanent hires?
Yes. Interim and fractional placements are a growing part of what we do, particularly for businesses who need senior marketing leadership without committing to a full-time hire straight away.
Can you help with interim or fractional roles, not just permanent hires?
Do you work with businesses outside the UK?
Our focus is UK-based hiring, though we're open to conversations about roles with international scope if the hiring business is UK-based.
We have previously helped clients to recruit in Europe, the US, and Asia.How do we get started?
Get in touch through the site or drop us a message on ku.oc.erihotemit%40olleh or WhatsApp.
We'll usually start with a call to understand the role and the business before anything formal kicks off.
Our thoughts
Our thoughts
What if your recruiter only got paid when you were happy?
Most recruitment agencies send their final invoice before your new hire has cleared probation. Some before they've even started. You carry all the risk, armed with nothing more than a short warranty and a vague promise that they'll "sort it" if things go wrong.