Why is there a coverage slider at all?

Because agent against person is the wrong comparison: it always flatters the software. An agent does part of a job, so the honest comparison is agent plus the fraction of a person you still need, against the whole person. The slider calculates exactly that.

What is the break-even coverage figure?

The point at which the two routes cost the same: the agent's annual running and supervision cost divided by the loaded cost of the hire. Below that coverage, hiring is cheaper. It is the single number that decides this, and almost nobody prints it.

Why does supervision cost anything?

Somebody checks what the agent produced, handles what it escalates, and fixes it when a connected system changes. That person is paid: four hours a week at £35 an hour over 46 working weeks is £6,440 a year, usually above the agent's running cost.

Where do the National Insurance and pension figures come from?

Employer National Insurance: 15% above £96 a week, tax year 2026 to 2027 (gov.uk/national-insurance-rates-letters, checked 26 August 2026). Employer pension: the automatic enrolment minimum of 3% on band earnings between £6,240 and £50,270 (gov.uk/workplace-pensions, checked 26 August 2026). Both apply to your salary figure.

Why forty-six working weeks?

Statutory paid holiday is 5.6 weeks a year, 28 days for a five-day week (gov.uk/holiday-entitlement-rights, checked 26 August 2026). Fifty-two less 5.6 is 46.4, rounded down. Supervision at 52 weeks would overstate the agent's cost, which is no more honest than understating it.

What does this leave out, and which way does it cut?

Sick pay, holiday cover, the value of someone who knows the business in three years, the risk of the agent breaking quietly, and a build that needs a second go. Three favour the hire, two the agent. If the number says hire, hire.

An agent or another hire

The true annual cost of an agent, supervision included, against the loaded cost of a person. Plus the number that actually decides it: how little of the job the agent would have to cover before hiring is the better buy.

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ANOTHER HIRE

£42,824

a year, every year. £46,824 in year one with recruitment.

Salary for the role

£

Your figure. No salary benchmark is claimed on this page.Overhead, per year

£

Desk, kit, insurance, software, training.Recruitment and onboarding, one off

£

Agency fee, advertising, and the weeks before they are useful.

Employer National Insurance15% above £4,992 a year, gov.uk, checked 26 August 2026: £4,051
Employer pension3% of band earnings, automatic enrolment minimum: £773
Loaded, every year: £42,824

AN AGENT

£8,240

a year to run and supervise. £11,240 in year one with the build.

What the build costs, one off

£

Our one-off fee to build an agent is capped at £3,000, whatever the job turns out to involve. Fixed, and quoted in writing before anything starts.Running cost, per month

£

Model or API usage, hosting, licences.Hours a week supervising it

hrs

Checking output, handling what it escalates, fixing it when a system it touches changes.Loaded hourly cost of whoever supervises

£

Running it£150 a month: £1,800
Supervising it4 hrs × 46 weeks × £35: £6,440
Every year, once built: £8,240

How much of the role the agent could actually do60%Almost nothing goes to 100%. Sixty percent is the honest starting point: the routine part runs itself and a person still handles the rest.

So the comparison is not agent against person. It is agent, plus the 40% of the person you still need, against the whole person.

The agent, every year: £8,240
The 40% of the role it cannot doPriced at the same loaded rate, pro rata: £17,130
That route, every year: £25,370
Just hiring, every year: £42,824

THE AGENT ROUTE IS CHEAPER BY

£17,454

a year, every year after the build. In year one, with the build and the recruitment both counted, the agent route is ahead by £18,454.

The agent route stops being cheaper below 19% coverage. That is the number worth arguing about, not the licence fee: if you cannot honestly say the agent will cover more of the job than that, hire.

WORKED EXAMPLE, NOT A QUOTE

A £32,000 role

£42,824

a year once employer National Insurance, the pension minimum and £6,000 of overhead are on it. £46,824 in year one with recruitment.

An agent covering 60% of it

£25,370

a year, and that already includes £17,130 for the 40% of the role a person still does. £17,454 a year cheaper.

And the number that decides it: on those figures the agent route stops being cheaper below 19% coverage. If it cannot honestly cover more of the job than that, hire. Those are the tool's opening values, and every one is yours to change.

The objections to this number

Why is there a coverage slider at all?: Because agent against person is the wrong comparison: it always flatters the software. An agent does part of a job, so the honest comparison is agent plus the fraction of a person you still need, against the whole person. The slider calculates exactly that.
What is the break-even coverage figure?: The point at which the two routes cost the same: the agent's annual running and supervision cost divided by the loaded cost of the hire. Below that coverage, hiring is cheaper. It is the single number that decides this, and almost nobody prints it.
Why does supervision cost anything?: Somebody checks what the agent produced, handles what it escalates, and fixes it when a connected system changes. That person is paid: four hours a week at £35 an hour over 46 working weeks is £6,440 a year, usually above the agent's running cost.
Where do the National Insurance and pension figures come from?: Employer National Insurance: 15% above £96 a week, tax year 2026 to 2027 (gov.uk/national-insurance-rates-letters, checked 26 August 2026). Employer pension: the automatic enrolment minimum of 3% on band earnings between £6,240 and £50,270 (gov.uk/workplace-pensions, checked 26 August 2026). Both apply to your salary figure.
Why forty-six working weeks?: Statutory paid holiday is 5.6 weeks a year, 28 days for a five-day week (gov.uk/holiday-entitlement-rights, checked 26 August 2026). Fifty-two less 5.6 is 46.4, rounded down. Supervision at 52 weeks would overstate the agent's cost, which is no more honest than understating it.
What does this leave out, and which way does it cut?: Sick pay, holiday cover, the value of someone who knows the business in three years, the risk of the agent breaking quietly, and a build that needs a second go. Three favour the hire, two the agent. If the number says hire, hire.

Carry on next door

Staffing model calculator

The same question with four answers instead of two: permanent, contractor, agency, or automate and keep the remainder in house.

Open it

AI team cost calculator

What the team you already have costs, loaded, including the hours the tooling eats.

Open it

The coverage figure is the whole argument

Everything else on this page is arithmetic. What fraction of a real job an agent can take is a judgement about your process, and that is what twenty minutes with us settles.

Book twenty minutes

A chat panel asking to chase overdue invoices and book Tuesday's demo, the reply that two were paid and the demo booked, tool tiles joined by teal threads, and a run log. — The workspace the calculator compares against a hire. The figures are an illustration of a run, not a client's results.

Ran your numbers? Send us the figures and we will come back with a fixed price, or book twenty minutes and talk them through.

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Elsewhere on this site

Each service is its own page. Pricing, the FAQ, the Manchester company page, the free tools and the blog sit alongside them.