Why usRolesHow it worksRatesPromisesWork with usGet a quote

People,not numbers.

Hand-picked bar, floor, kitchen and event people who choose every shift they work. Paid properly. Briefed twice before they arrive. Named on your confirmation, not counted.

Core rate, all in, ex VAT£25.00/hr
What the person on the floor is paid£14.00 + holiday
Minimum booking4 hours
Surge pricingNever
60 min

Written, itemised quote in working hours. Three hours outside them.

£15.69

Per hour to our core-rate people, holiday pay itemised. The big agencies pay £13.68.

5%

Back to you if a job comes in under the quoted budget. We would rather refund than pad.

1 name

One account manager with a mobile number on every booking, 7am to 2am.

Why Salt Social People

Three good people beat six average ones.

Most agencies fill a job by sending as many bodies as they can at minimum wage. We look at the same job and ask how few excellent people it actually needs, then pay them properly to do it. Your invoice is lower. Your guests notice the difference.

Every person we send has been interviewed by a founder, worked a paid trial shift alongside us, and been briefed on your venue 48 hours before the door opens. They are not on a rota they never chose. They accepted your shift because they wanted it.

Book your first shift on us
Same 8-hour shiftTypical agencySalt Social People
People sent
Paid to each person£12.71 minimum£14.00 + holiday
Charged per hour£19.50 × 6£25.00 × 3
Briefed before arrivalRarelyTwice, in writing
Reach a human at 11pmVoicemailNamed mobile
Your invoice£936£600
What we supply

Every role on the floor, in the kitchen and at the door.

Christmas parties, stadium hospitality, racecourses, festivals, light trails, weddings, brand activations, private dinners, pop-ups.

Bar and floor

Bar staff, cocktail bartenders, waiting staff, runners, hosts, cloakroom.

Core£25 /hr ex VAT

Kitchen

Kitchen porters, chefs de partie, sous and head chefs. Food safety Level 2 as standard.

From£25 /hr ex VAT

Event crew

Stewards, ticket and admissions, trail and market staff, set-up and clear-down.

Core£25 /hr ex VAT

Leads and brand

Team leaders, supervisors, event managers and brand ambassadors who run the room.

From£28 /hr ex VAT

Need something unusual, tonight?

A sommelier for a private dinner, a barista team at 6am, a horse handler for a country show, a fleet of drivers for a fortnight away. Tailored sourcing is the job. Tell us and we will find the right person.

Ask us
How a booking works

From your email to a briefed team on your floor.

1

You send the brief

Date, venue, headcount by role, timings, dress code. Two minutes on the form.

2 min
2

We quote in writing

Itemised, ex VAT, expenses shown separately, a contingency you get back if unused.

60 min
3

Names confirmed

The people coming, by name. If we cannot fill a position, we say so now, not on the day.

2 hrs
4

Briefed twice

Venue, door, transport, uniform, service style, allergens, your on-site contact.

48h + 3h before
5

On the floor

Photo check-in on arrival. Named manager on the phone all night. Timesheet Monday.

Shift day
Rates, published

The rate card. The whole rate card.

Almost nobody in this industry publishes prices. We do, including what the person doing the work is paid. Per hour, excluding VAT.

TierWe pay themYou pay us
CoreBar staff, waiting, runners, kitchen porters, event crew, stewards, cloakroom, admissions£14.00 + 12.07% holiday£25.00
SkilledCocktail bartenders, baristas, fine-dining and box waiters, hosts, brand ambassadors, team leaders£16.50 + holiday£28.00
LeadSupervisors, event managers, chefs de partie£20.00 + holiday£34.00
Senior chefSous chefs, head chefs£24.00 + holiday£40.00
Uplifts, also published. Inside the M25: +£3/hr (we pay +£2). 1 December to 2 January and bank holidays: +£3/hr (we pay +£2). New Year's Eve: +£6/hr (we pay +£4).
Working away. Multi-day jobs away from home carry expenses at cost, shown as their own line: accommodation, travel or mileage, and a £20 per person per day meal allowance. Agreed in the quote, never a surprise on the invoice.
The contingency and the rebate. Every quote includes a contingency line so a long night never becomes an argument. If the job comes in under the quote, we refund 5% of the total. If we do not need the contingency, you do not pay it.
Not on the invoice. No last-minute premium. No surge pricing. No travel charge within 15 miles of the worker's base. No booking fee. Minimum booking 4 hours.
Where the rest goes. The gap between pay and charge covers holiday pay, employer National Insurance, pension, insurance and our margin, which is under 20%.

Instant estimate

Indicative. Your written quote follows within 60 minutes.
Staff, 4 × 8 hrs × 1 shift£800.00
Contingency, refunded if unused£160.00
Estimate ex VAT£960.00
Contingency is 20% of the staff line. It exists so a late finish never turns into a dispute, and it comes back to you if we do not use it.
Turn this into a quote
In the contract, not just on this page

Promises with money behind them.

One set for the people who book us. One set for the people who work with us. Both are written into our terms.

Quote in 60 minutes

Written, itemised, ex VAT, 8am to 8pm every day. Three hours outside that.

A named human, 7am to 2am

Your account manager's mobile is on the booking confirmation, answered on any day we have people working.

First-hour swap

Anyone not right? Tell us in the first hour. No charge for them and a replacement on the way.

First shift on us

New clients get one person for one four-hour shift free on their first booking. See what you are buying.

Under budget, money back

Come in under the quote and we refund 5% of the total. Unused contingency is never charged.

Fair cancellation, published

Free more than 48 hours out. 50% between 24 and 48 hours. 100% inside 24 hours. Whatever you pay goes to the person who cleared their diary.

Halloween and Christmas 2026

December is won in September.

Every venue is short in the last six weeks of the year. Book a core team now and the same faces come back every night of the season.

00days
00hours
00mins

until the first festive party weekend, Friday 27 November

Reserve a December team
Who you are dealing with

A small team that still works the shifts.

Salt Social People exists because we had both seen the same thing from opposite ends: agencies that treat workers as headcount and clients as invoices. We wanted the agency we would want to book, and the one we would want to work for.

T

Tasmyn Leigh

Founder and Director

Ten years in events. Agency floors, bar work, pop-ups and her own events, with multiple agencies across the UK. Tasmyn interviews every person we take on and works the first booking with every new client.

L

Liam Hunter

Operations Coordinator

Sixteen years in operations, from postman to running a 42-depot national network with 650 drivers. Liam runs the rota, the briefs and the standby lists, and will be washing glasses next to you when the night needs it.

Get a quote

Tell us the brief. We reply within 60 minutes.

Staff enquiry

The more you give us, the more accurate the quote. Nothing here commits you to anything.
Or email hello@salt-social.co.uk

What happens next

Your brief lands with Tasmyn or Liam, not a queue. A written quote within 60 minutes (8am to 8pm) and a call if anything needs clarifying.

Compliance in one place

Every person paid through our PAYE payroll, so you carry no status risk. Right-to-work checks before day one. Employers' Liability £10m, Public Liability £10m. Certificates with your first confirmation.

Already have an agency?

Keep them. Use us for the shifts they cannot fill, or the ones that matter most. Overflow is where most first clients start.

Other agencies

Short on people for a big weekend? We supply overflow to other agencies on the same published terms.

Work with us

Good at this? You should be paid like it.

We take on fewer people than other agencies and give them more work, more money and a real person to call. You choose every shift. Three fields to start. A human rings you within 24 hours.

£14.00Core rate per hour, plus 12.07% holiday on top, from day one
£16.50 to £24Skilled, lead and chef rates
FridayPaid every week, £20 a day to you if we are late
+£2/hr1 Dec to 2 Jan and bank holidays. +£4 on New Year's Eve

Apply in two minutes

No CV needed yet. No passport, NI number or bank details until we have offered you work.

How we take people on

1
This formName, mobile, city. Two minutes.
2
A call within 24 hoursFifteen minutes with Tasmyn or Liam.
3
Interview and two referencesThirty minutes, video or in person.
4
Right-to-work and documentsOnly after we have offered you work.
5
Paid trial shiftAlongside a founder or a Salt Core member.
6
You are inContract, key information document, uniform and food safety Level 2, paid for by us.

The loyalty ladder

Stay with us and your rate rises. Salt Core members get guaranteed hours through December and first refusal on shifts.

+£0.5025 shifts
+£1.0050 shifts
+£1.501 year
Questions

Straight answers.

Are your people employees or contractors?

They are independent workers who accept or decline each shift we offer. There is no obligation either way. For tax, HMRC's agency rules mean we run their pay through PAYE with holiday pay, pension and sick pay, so you carry no employment-status risk and they carry no tax surprises. Genuinely self-employed specialists we source for you (a sommelier with their own business, a driver with their own vehicle) are engaged under a separate contractor agreement.

What is the minimum booking?

Four hours per person per shift. No minimum number of people.

How fast can you supply at short notice?

Same day is often possible in the North East and London. We tell you within two hours whether we can fill it. Short notice does not change the price.

What does "working away" cost?

Expenses at cost, as their own line on the quote: accommodation we book, travel or mileage, and £20 per person per day for meals. Nothing is marked up and receipts are available.

Do you supply security?

Not directly. Door supervision needs an SIA licence and we refer that to a licensed partner. We do supply stewards, admissions and event crew.

What is the contingency on the quote?

A 20% line on top of the staff cost that covers a late finish, an extra pair of hands or a change on the night without a renegotiation. If we do not need it, you do not pay it, and if the whole job comes in under the quote we refund 5% of the total.

How do timesheets and invoicing work?

Digital clock in and out. Timesheet to you Monday for the week ending Sunday, approved by noon or deemed approved after 24 hours. Invoice Monday, 14-day terms. New clients: 7 days or a card on file for the first month.

Can we hire someone permanently?

Yes. We would rather you took someone on than lost them. Transfer terms are in our terms of business and include an extended-hire option instead of a fee.

Are you insured and compliant?

Employers' Liability £10m, Public Liability £10m, Professional Indemnity £1m. Right-to-work checks on everyone before their first shift. Food safety Level 2 for anyone handling food or drink. Certificates come with your first confirmation.

Is "first shift on us" real?

Yes. New clients get one person for one four-hour shift free on their first booking. The person is paid in full by us. If they are not the best person in your building that night, do not book us again.