What Does a Fractional HR Director Actually Cost? (And Is It Worth It?)

A full-time HR Director in the UK commands a salary of £70,000 to £100,000 per year, plus on-costs. For most businesses under 100 people, that's not a justifiable hire — but the need for that level of expertise is real.

Fractional HR was built for exactly this gap.

What is a Fractional HR Director?

A fractional arrangement means you get a senior, experienced HR professional working with your business on a part-time or retained basis. You're not hiring a junior HR administrator or a generalist who handles payroll queries. You're accessing genuine strategic and operational HR expertise — at a fraction of the cost of a full-time hire.

What does it cost?

Pricing varies significantly depending on the level of involvement, the provider, and the scope of work. At King HR Advisory, our Fractional Head of People™ service is a monthly retainer giving you regular dedicated HR time, strategic input, and operational support. Our Lite Fractional Head of People™ starts at £550 per month on a 12-month arrangement, or £650 per month on a rolling basis.

For context: that's less than one day of employment solicitor fees if something goes wrong.

Who is it right for?

Fractional HR works best for founders and MDs who are growing and know HR matters, but aren't yet at the scale where a full-time hire makes sense. It's also particularly well-suited to purpose-led organisations — charities, care providers, social enterprises — where budgets are tight and the workforce is complex.

If you're running a business with 10 to 100 employees and no dedicated people function, fractional HR is almost certainly the most commercially sensible model available to you.