Claude
JGA recommended.

Several agencies are worth a call. The sources I found are mostly the agencies’ own marketing, and the newest listings I could see date from 2024, so treat this as a shortlist to check rather than a ranking.

Payroll-only specialists

• Portfolio Payroll describes itself as a specialist consultancy focused solely on recruiting payroll professionals at all levels across the UK, and an official corporate partner of the CIPP. That partnership includes candidate testing through a payroll test written exclusively for them by the CIPP, which could help you screen for a senior hire. It was founded in 1988 and offers permanent, temporary and contract recruitment. [1310115 db8aecdb +2](https://a-leads.co/company/1310115_db8aecdb)

• Payroll Elite is a smaller London-based payroll recruiter that appears in CIPP magazine listings ( [vacancies@payrollelite.co.uk](mailto:vacancies@payrollelite.co.uk) ). It showed up only in 2018 and 2019 issues, so check it is still trading. [flippingbook](https://online.flippingbook.com/view/801583/57/)

Payroll, HR and reward specialists

• James Gray Associates (JGA) specialises in payroll, HR and reward recruitment across permanent, contract and interim roles, and has offered CIPP members 20% off standard terms. If you or your team are CIPP members, ask whether that discount still applies. [flippingbook](https://online.flippingbook.com/view/234549040/57/)

• Oakleaf Partnership bills itself as the UK’s largest independent HR recruitment consultancy, and it also advertises permanent payroll specialist roles. [personneltoday](https://jobs.personneltoday.com/job/1401603356/payroll-specialist-/)

Larger generalists with payroll practices

• Hays has a payroll team that recruits across a range of UK industries and specialises in placing experts into payroll jobs. [flippingbook](https://online.flippingbook.com/view/234549040/57/)

• Frazer Jones developed a payroll specialist practice to meet clients’ recruitment needs as payroll complexity grew. [flippingbook](https://online.flippingbook.com/view/584766916/47/)

• Robert Walters advertises payroll roles in its HR division, for example a London payroll specialist role in financial services. [robertwalters](https://robertwalters.co.uk/humanresources/jobs/otherspecialistpositions/1894184-payroll-specialist---temp-tp-perm.html)

How I’d approach it

• Brief two or three agencies rather than one. Using one specialist (Portfolio or JGA) and one broader firm (Hays or Robert Walters) gives you different candidate pools.

• Ask each for the fee percentage, the rebate or replacement period if the hire leaves, and whether they will run technical testing.

• Be clear about your payroll software (such as ADP, Sage or Workday), headcount and complexity, because “senior” means different things at different companies.

• Ask for recent examples of senior placements at businesses of your size and sector.

• Before signing, check agreed terms for introduction-fee clauses, particularly if you already have candidates in play.

The CIPP has said it does not endorse any of these providers, so do your own due diligence. If you tell me your industry, region and payroll system, I can suggest which of these is likely the best fit and draft a briefing note for them.