Seven UK umbrella companies were read on 17 September 2026 to find out what each one charges. Not one of them publishes a margin. Every list that ranks umbrella companies by price is therefore ranking on figures it did not get from the companies, and the honest answer to "which is best" starts by saying so. What they do publish is accreditation, and that is worth reading: FCSA, the Freelancer and Contractor Services Association, accredits "umbrella employers, limited company advisors, and self-employed/CIS contractor providers who can demonstrate the highest industry standards", and SafeRec certification goes further by auditing actual payslips.
The seven read, and what each one publishes
Read on 17 September 2026, in order of how much each company puts on the record. Not one of the seven publishes a margin, so this is a ranking on evidence published rather than on price, and it says so rather than inventing a table.
- Brookson: Read 17 September 2026. Publishes the widest set of external checks of the seven: FCSA, APSCo, REC, ISO and SafeRec certification, which is a third party auditing real payslips rather than a badge. Promises "one transparent margin and no other hidden deductions" and does not state what that margin is.
- Umbrella.co.uk: Read 17 September 2026. FCSA accredited, SafeRec certified, ISO 27001 and Cyber Essentials, so the data-handling side is evidenced as well as the payroll side. No margin figure anywhere on the site.
- NASA Group: Read 17 September 2026. FCSA accredited and SafeRec certified, and the only one of the seven to commit to the SHAPE of its charge in public: "No percentage or varying income based fees - just a flat margin". A flat margin is the right shape, because a percentage costs you more as your rate rises for no more work. The amount is still not stated.
- Integrated Contract Services (ICS): Read 17 September 2026. FCSA accredited across umbrella, limited and CIS, an ACCA approved employer and Cyber Essentials Plus. Describes its charge as a "Competitive Margin" with no figure attached, which is the phrase to be most careful of: it is a claim about a number nobody can see.
- Churchill Knight: Read 17 September 2026. FCSA accredited. Offers a take-home calculation, but behind a form: you give your details to see a figure, which means the number you are shown is not one you can compare with anybody else's before you have been contacted.
- Clarity Umbrella: Read 17 September 2026. FCSA member. A smaller operator whose public pages are about compliance rather than price; no margin figure published.
- Parasol: Read 17 September 2026. One of the largest umbrellas in the UK, and the page read here is its own guide to umbrella company CHARGES: it explains that a margin "might be set at a fixed rate at fixed intervals - weekly or monthly - or as a percentage of your assignment rate" and does not say which its own is, or how much. A guide to charges that omits its own is the clearest illustration of the finding on this page.
The finding: the price is not public, anywhere
All seven pages read carry the same shape of claim and none of the substance. "One transparent margin and no other hidden deductions" (Brookson). "No percentage or varying income based fees, just a flat margin" (NASA Group). "Competitive Margin" (ICS). Parasol publishes an entire guide to umbrella company charges that explains a margin may be a fixed weekly or monthly amount or a percentage of the assignment rate, without saying which its own is. Churchill Knight puts a calculation behind a contact form. This is not an accident of which pages were read: it is how the market is arranged, because the margin is negotiated with the RECRUITMENT AGENCY rather than advertised to the worker.
Where the number actually is, and it is yours by law
The Key Information Document. Since 6 April 2020 an employment business must give every temporary worker a KID before it provides any work-finding services, and GOV.UK is explicit that where an umbrella company is involved the KID "must include details of any other costs or deductions from your pay, including amounts or how they are worked out". It is the agency's own duty and it cannot be handed to the umbrella: "It is always your responsibility to issue key information documents. You cannot defer this to a third party, like an umbrella company." So the way to compare two umbrellas is to ask the agency for the KID for each, and read the margin off it. Nothing on this page, or any other, is a substitute for that document.
What changed on 6 April 2026, and why it matters to the choice
From 6 April 2026 the responsibility for operating PAYE on workers supplied through an umbrella company moves to the RECRUITMENT AGENCY, or to the end client where there is no agency, with joint and several liability so HMRC can pursue the agency for payroll taxes a non-compliant umbrella fails to remit. The umbrella still runs the payroll; the risk of it running it wrongly has moved up the chain. For a worker this is the most protective change the sector has had, and it also means agencies now have a direct financial reason to use umbrellas they have checked. If an agency offers you a list, that list has been filtered by somebody carrying the liability.
What to compare when you cannot compare price
Four things, in order. Is the margin FLAT or a percentage: a percentage costs more as your rate rises for identical work, and only one of the seven states in public that its charge is flat. Is it accredited, and by whom: FCSA and Professional Passport are the two industry schemes, and SafeRec is the audit that reads real payslips rather than policies. Does the payslip show the assignment rate and every deduction from it separately, so you can check the margin you were quoted is the margin you are paying. And how is holiday pay handled: rolled up into each payment or held and paid when you take leave, because held holiday pay that is never claimed is the single most common way money goes missing on an umbrella contract.
The margin is the small part, which is why top umbrella companies lists mislead
A typical margin sits in the tens of pounds a week. The costs it sits beside do not. On a £300 a day assignment at £1,500 a week, a £25 margin is 1.7% of the assignment rate, while employer National Insurance at 15% above the secondary threshold takes about £179.03 and the Apprenticeship Levy about £6.45, leaving £1,289.52 of gross pay before your own Income Tax and National Insurance. You keep about £950.95 a week, 63.4% of the assignment rate. At £200 a day you keep 68.4%, at £500 a day 56.3%. Choosing an umbrella that is £5 a week cheaper moves that by about 0.3 of a percentage point. Choosing one that handles holiday pay badly, or gets the PAYE wrong, moves it by far more.
Questions people ask about best umbrella company uk
Which is the cheapest umbrella company?
Nobody can honestly say from public information. Seven of the largest were read on 17 September 2026 and not one publishes a margin. The comparison you can make is between the Key Information Documents your agency must give you, which state the amounts.
Are umbrella companies approved by HMRC?
No. HMRC does not approve, licence or endorse umbrella companies. The accreditations that exist are industry ones, FCSA and Professional Passport, plus the SafeRec payslip audit, and none of them is a government approval.
Is a flat margin better than a percentage?
Almost always, for the worker. The umbrella's work is the same whether your rate is £200 or £500 a day, so a percentage charges more for the same service. Of the seven read, only NASA Group states in public that its charge is flat rather than a percentage.
Does it matter which umbrella my agency puts me with?
Less than it did before 6 April 2026, because PAYE responsibility and joint and several liability now sit with the agency. It still matters for the margin, for how holiday pay is handled, and for whether the payslip is readable.