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Join in ten minutes
Right-to-work check, contract of employment and your Key Information Document — all online, all before your first timesheet.
Contracting freedom. Employment security.
Northcover is the FCSA-accredited umbrella employer that pays you the same day your timesheet is approved — with every deduction shown, every right protected, and no surprises on the payslip.
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Northcover 
is a compliant umbrella employer for UK contractors. We employ you, invoice your agency, pay HMRC what’s owed and pay you the rest — same day, every week. Our job is to make continuous employment feel as free as contracting, so you can take the assignment, not the admin.
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Contractors employed through Northcover, across IT, engineering, healthcare and construction.
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£0m
Payroll processed last year, every penny of PAYE and NI reconciled to HMRC in real time.
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Of approved timesheets paid the same working day by Faster Payments.
Three steps to getting paid
No setup fees, no exit fees, no waiting for a “pay run”. Join, submit, get paid.
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Submit your timesheet
Log hours in the app or let your agency send them straight to us. We invoice the agency and chase it so you don’t have to.
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Paid the same day
Funds cleared, payslip in the app, PAYE and NI already with HMRC. Rolled-up holiday pay is on every payslip, clearly labelled.
Net pay£1,842.60Sent 08:02
Built for contractors and recruiters
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Full employment rights
Statutory sick, maternity and paternity pay, workplace pension with salary sacrifice, and a continuous employment record that mortgage lenders recognise.
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£30 million of insurance
£10m employers’ liability, £10m public liability and £10m professional indemnity as standard. No add-ons, no “premium tier”.
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Agency due diligence, done
From April 2026 agencies share PAYE liability for their umbrella supply chain. We give recruiters live reconciliation reports so their audit trail is already written.
Where your rate goes
Assignment rateInvoiced£2,750.00
Northcover marginFixed−£22.00
Employer NI & levyHMRC−£391.40
Employee PAYE & NIHMRC−£494.00
Paid to youSame day£1,842.60
A margin you can see. A liability you can’t catch.
No “enhanced” schemes, no offshore loans, no 85% take-home promises. Every deduction on a Northcover payslip reconciles to the penny with what HMRC receives — and every recruiter can prove it.
FCSAAccredited member
SafeRecPayslip audited weekly
ISO 27001Information security
Cyber Essentials+Certified
Take-home estimateWeekly
Estimated net pay
£1,842
Based on a 5-day week, tax code 1257L, no pension contributions. An estimate, not a quote.
Know your number before you sign
Drag the slider. What you see is what lands in your account — because the margin is fixed and the deductions are the law, not our interpretation of it.
0k+Payslips a month
4.8Average rating
0+Agencies served
Trusted by 600+ recruitment agencies
Real stories from our contractors
Hear from the engineers, nurses and consultants who moved their contracts to Northcover.
“Moved from an umbrella that took eleven days to pay. Northcover paid me the afternoon my first timesheet was approved. Nothing hidden on the payslip — I checked it against the calculator.
Dave HollowaySite Supervisor, Leeds
“Locum shifts across three trusts and one payslip a week that actually adds up. The app shows the KID, the margin and the holiday pay — my accountant was impressed, which never happens.
Simone AdeyemiAgency Nurse, Bristol
ConstructionHealthcareIT & TechEngineeringRail
Frequently asked questions
Still have a question?
Talk to a real person on 0161 000 0000, Monday to Friday, 8am–6pm.
Contact us01What is an umbrella company?
An umbrella company employs you while you work on temporary assignments through a recruitment agency. Northcover invoices the agency, deducts tax and National Insurance under PAYE, and pays you as an employee — with the rights, insurances and pension that go with it.
02What does Northcover actually cost?
One fixed weekly margin of £22, shown on every payslip. No joining fee, no leaving fee, no charge for same-day pay, insurance or the app.
03How quickly will I be paid?
We run payroll every working day. Once your agency approves the timesheet and funds arrive, you’re paid by Faster Payments the same day — usually before 9am.
04What changed in April 2026?
Recruitment agencies became jointly and severally liable for unpaid PAYE in their umbrella supply chain. It’s why agencies now ask harder questions — and why Northcover gives every agency partner a live reconciliation report against HMRC’s RTI.
05Can I claim expenses?
Most umbrella employees can’t claim travel and subsistence because assignments are treated as a single workplace. If you’re not under supervision, direction or control we’ll assess it properly — we won’t “process” expenses just to inflate a take-home figure.
Take the contract, not the admin
Ten minutes to join. Paid the same day your first timesheet clears.