For most small businesses, a call answering service is better value than hiring a receptionist. A full-time receptionist typically costs over £2,000 a month once salary and benefits are included, while call answering services generally range from around £25 to £500 a month. A receptionist makes more sense if you need someone at a front desk greeting visitors and handling office admin all day.
Every growing business reaches the point where the phone starts to get in the way. You are with a client, out on a job or buried in paperwork, and calls go unanswered. The obvious fix is to hire someone. The less obvious one is to hand your calls to a telephone answering service.
Both options put a real person on the end of the line, but they cost very different amounts and suit different businesses. This guide sets out the true cost of employing a receptionist in the UK, what an answering service can and cannot do, and how to decide which is right for you.
The real cost of employing a receptionist
According to the National Careers Service, a typical UK receptionist salary runs from around £21,000 a year for a starter to £25,000 for someone experienced. That is only the headline figure. As an employer, you also take on:
- Employer National Insurance: 15% on earnings above the secondary threshold of £5,000 a year for 2026/27, according to the gov.uk rates and thresholds for employers.
- Workplace pension: under auto-enrolment, the minimum employer contribution is generally 3% of qualifying earnings.
- Paid holiday: most workers on a five-day week are entitled to at least 28 days' paid leave a year, equivalent to 5.6 weeks (gov.uk holiday entitlement). Somebody still has to answer the phone during those weeks.
- Recruitment and training: advertising, interviewing and getting a new starter up to speed.
- Equipment: a desk, a computer and a phone system.
- Cover and management: sickness cover, plus your own time spent managing the role.
Here is a simple worked example. A starter salary of £21,000 attracts employer National Insurance of £2,400 (15% of the £16,000 above the threshold). That brings the cost to £23,400 a year, or £1,950 a month, before pension, equipment, recruitment or holiday cover are added.
It is no surprise, then, that UK provider Answer estimates a full-time in-house receptionist typically costs over £2,000 a month once salary and benefits are included. If you are thinking about part-time help instead, remember that the National Living Wage from 1 April 2026 is £12.71 an hour for workers aged 21 and over, and part-time hours leave gaps in your cover.
What a call answering service costs
Answering services charge in several ways: per call, per minute, monthly bundles of calls or minutes, or a flat monthly fee. Moneypenny's published guide says UK call answering generally costs from around £25 to £500 or more per month, depending on call volume, hours of cover and features. ReceptionHQ quotes typical per-call rates of £0.99 to £2.50, and per-minute billing of £0.80 to £1.85. Prices vary between providers and can change, so always check current rates.
For a fuller breakdown of pricing models and the extras to watch for, read our guide to how much a telephone answering service costs in the UK.
At Onwards Answering, prices start from £72 per month after a free 2 week trial. There are no per-call charges, no inclusive-minutes bundles and no cap on how many calls are taken. The package is agreed with you at the start based on your expected inbound calls, then reviewed after 3 months.
Side by side: receptionist or answering service?
| Factor | In-house receptionist | Call answering service |
|---|---|---|
| Typical monthly cost | Over £2,000 (Answer's estimate) | Around £25 to £500 or more (Moneypenny's range); Onwards from £72 |
| Holidays and sickness | You arrange and pay for cover | Cover does not depend on one person |
| Recruitment and training | Your responsibility | Handled by the provider, with scripts tailored to you |
| Greeting visitors in person | Yes | No, phone only |
| General office admin | Yes | Call-related tasks: messages, transfers, bookings, outbound calls |
| Outside business hours | Only if you arrange extra hours | Onwards includes a voicemail service outside business hours |
When hiring a receptionist is the better choice
An answering service is not the right answer for every business. Employing your own receptionist makes more sense when:
- Visitors walk in throughout the day and need to be greeted in person.
- The role includes plenty of admin beyond the phone, such as post, filing or office management.
- Your call volume is steady enough to keep one person busy all day, every day.
- Callers need detailed internal knowledge that changes hour by hour.
When a call answering service makes more sense
For many small firms, the phone is busy in bursts rather than all day. An answering service is usually the better fit when:
- You are a sole trader or small team who is often on site, in meetings or with clients.
- Calls arrive in peaks, such as Monday mornings or after a marketing campaign.
- You need cover for lunch breaks, holidays and sickness without hiring.
- You cannot justify £2,000 or more a month for one role.
It is worth remembering that a good answering service is very different from voicemail. Callers speak to a real person who answers in your company name, takes a detailed message, transfers urgent calls and can even book appointments into your diary. Our article on why a telephone answering service is more efficient than an answering machine explains the difference in more detail.
You do not have to choose one or the other
You can also combine the two. Your own staff answer first, and calls divert to the answering service when the line is busy or not picked up within a set time. This is known as overflow call answering, and our guide to using a call answering service only when you are busy explains how it works.
Onwards Answering can act as the sole point of contact for your business or purely as an overflow service. See how this works for law firms, where a missed call can mean a lost client. As one legal client, Clarity Simplicity Ltd, puts it: "Onwards Answering is a vital part of our sales process. We know that getting the phone answered quickly just needs to happen, or we lose."
Try Onwards Answering before you hire
If you are weighing up a new hire, a trial costs you nothing. Onwards Answering's receptionists are based in Scotland and work from home rather than in a call centre. Calls are answered live during business hours, with an included after-hours voicemail option, and you receive a call summary by email or SMS after every call.
You can start with a free 2 week trial, then plans run from £72 per month with no per-call charges. Compare the options on our prices and plans page, or get in touch with the team to talk through your call volumes.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a receptionist cost a small business in the UK?
The National Careers Service puts a typical receptionist salary at £21,000 to £25,000 a year. On top of that you pay employer National Insurance, pension contributions and holiday cover, plus recruitment and equipment. UK provider Answer estimates a full-time in-house receptionist typically costs over £2,000 a month once salary and benefits are included.
Can a call answering service replace a receptionist completely?
For phone work, often yes. A call answering service can answer in your company name, take messages, transfer calls, book appointments and make outbound calls. It cannot greet visitors at a front desk or handle general office admin, so businesses with steady walk-in traffic may still need someone on site.
Can I use an answering service alongside my own receptionist?
Yes. Many businesses use an answering service for overflow, so calls divert when their receptionist is busy, at lunch or on holiday. Onwards Answering can work as your sole point of contact or purely as an overflow service, depending on what suits your business.