The Two Scenarios
Scenario A: You hire a full-time executive assistant locally. London, New York, Sydney, or Toronto — the markets vary slightly but the cost structure is similar.
Scenario B: You work with a full-day Executive Virtual Assistant through VAConnect. South African professional. Managed agency model. Month-to-month. GMT+2 timezone.
Let’s cost both out completely.
Scenario A: The Local Hire
Base Salary
For a mid-level Executive Assistant (3–5 years experience) in London:
- Lower range: £38,000/year
- Mid range: £48,000/year
- Senior range: £58,000/year
We’ll use £45,000/year as a representative mid-point. At the current exchange rate (~$1.27/£), that’s approximately $57,150/year.
Employer National Insurance (UK)
UK employer NI on salaries above £9,100/year is 13.8%. On a £45,000 salary, minus the threshold:
£45,000 − £9,100 = £35,900 × 13.8% = £4,954/year
At $1.27: ~$6,291/year
Pension Contribution (Employer)
UK auto-enrollment requires a minimum 3% employer pension contribution. On £45,000:
£45,000 × 3% = £1,350/year = ~$1,714/year
(Many employers contribute 4–5%, so this is conservative.)
Equipment and Technology
Initial equipment for a new hire: laptop ($1,200–$1,800), monitor ($300–$600), peripherals ($200–$400), software licences (Microsoft 365: ~$120/year). We’ll use a conservative $1,500 amortised equipment investment plus $150/year ongoing software.
Annualised equipment cost (3-year amortisation): ~$650/year
Recruitment Costs
If you use a recruitment agency: typically 15–25% of first-year salary. On £45,000, that’s £6,750–£11,250 ($8,573–$14,288). Amortised over 3 years: $2,858–$4,763/year.
Even if you hire directly (LinkedIn, job boards), you spend 10–20 hours of your time in the process. At $200/hour, that’s $2,000–$4,000 in time cost. Amortised over 3 years: $667–$1,333/year.
We’ll use the direct hire model: $1,000/year recruitment cost amortised.
Training and Development
A new local hire typically requires initial onboarding training plus annual professional development. Estimate:
$800–$1,500/year (conferences, online courses, internal training time).
We’ll use $1,000/year.
Office Space (Contribution)
If you have an office, a new full-time employee requires a workstation. Average office space cost per person in London: £4,000–£8,000/year depending on location and setup.
For a non-London business, lower — but real. We’ll use a conservative $3,500/year.
If you’re fully remote, this is zero — but then the local hire benefit over a South African remote professional is reduced further.
HR Administration Overhead
Managing a direct employee requires HR compliance: employment contracts, holiday tracking, sick pay administration, performance review processes, termination procedures. For a small business without a dedicated HR function, this typically costs 2–4 hours/month of management time. At $200/hour: $4,800–$9,600/year in management time value.
We’ll use a conservative $4,800/year.
Total Annual Cost: Local Hire
| Cost Item | Annual Cost (USD) |
|---|---|
| Base salary (£45,000 = ~$57,150) | $57,150 |
| Employer NI | $6,291 |
| Pension | $1,714 |
| Equipment (amortised) | $650 |
| Recruitment (amortised) | $1,000 |
| Training | $1,000 |
| Office space | $3,500 |
| HR admin overhead | $4,800 |
| Total | $76,105 |
And this is a conservative estimate. Senior EA in central London at £55,000 with a recruitment agency: total annual cost can easily exceed $95,000–$110,000.
Scenario B: The VAConnect Managed EVA
Monthly Package Cost
VAConnect’s Full-Day Executive VA package: $3,228/month.
Annual cost: $38,736/year.
Employer NI / Taxes
Zero. The VA is employed by VAConnect, not by you. You are a client of the agency, not an employer.
Pension
Zero. Not your contribution to make.
Equipment
Zero. The VA provides their own equipment. VAConnect’s security protocols ensure data is handled via cloud storage — no local copies on VA devices.
Recruitment
Zero. VAConnect handles the full recruitment process: sourcing, testing, interviewing, reference checks. Your time investment is one strategy call and a shortlist review.
Training
Zero incremental cost. VAConnect’s VAVarsity platform provides continuous upskilling, covered within the managed service model.
Office Space
Zero. The VA works remotely.
HR Administration
Minimal. VAConnect’s account management handles the HR relationship with the VA. If there’s a performance issue, you raise it with your account manager. If you need a replacement, the agency manages that process. Your time investment in people management is a fraction of managing a direct employee.
Realistic ongoing management overhead: 1–2 hours/month = $2,400–$4,800/year in your time value.
We’ll use $3,600/year as a realistic estimate.
Total Annual Cost: VAConnect Managed EVA
| Cost Item | Annual Cost (USD) |
|---|---|
| Monthly package ($3,228 × 12) | $38,736 |
| HR admin overhead (minimal) | $3,600 |
| Total | $42,336 |
The Comparison
| Local Hire | VAConnect EVA | |
|---|---|---|
| Base/package cost | $57,150 | $38,736 |
| Employer NI | $6,291 | $0 |
| Pension | $1,714 | $0 |
| Equipment | $650 | $0 |
| Recruitment | $1,000 | $0 |
| Training | $1,000 | $0 |
| Office space | $3,500 | $0 |
| HR admin | $4,800 | $3,600 |
| Total | $76,105 | $42,336 |
| Annual saving | $33,769 |
The actual annual saving: $33,769. Against the headline $25,000 figure — the reality is more favourable than the marketing claim.
And this uses a mid-range London EA salary. At a senior London salary (£55,000) with a recruitment agency hire, the saving exceeds $50,000/year.
The Quality Question
The obvious challenge: “But is the quality the same?”
This is the right question to ask. A lower-cost option that delivers lower-quality outcomes isn’t a saving — it’s a trade-off.
So let’s address it directly.
South African executive assistants placed through VAConnect bring:
- Formal professional education (many with degrees in business administration, commerce, or communications)
- Significant executive support experience (typically 3–7+ years before being placed at the EVA tier)
- Neutral, professional English at UK business register
- Cultural alignment with Commonwealth business norms
- GMT+2 timezone — real-time overlap with UK working hours
VAConnect’s vetting process — three aptitude tests, a CEO-level interview, skills verification, reference checks — ensures the shortlisted candidates have already been screened for quality before you meet them.
And the proof is in the outcomes. SafetySA has worked with their VAConnect EA since 2021 — five years. Their HR Manager’s exact words: “VA Connect’s work has improved our efficiency, team wellbeing, and happiness by 100%.” Not “it’s fine for a remote worker.” Not “almost as good as an in-office hire.” A 100% improvement across three metrics.
Read what VAConnect clients say on Clutch — 4.8/5 from 10 independently verified reviews. These are not self-selected testimonials. They’re publicly audited reviews from businesses in the UK, US, South Africa, and UAE.
The quality isn’t a compromise. It’s the same quality at 40–55% less cost — because the cost arbitrage is structural (currency and cost of living), not indicative of talent quality.
The Flexibility Advantage (Which Has No Equivalent in the Local Hire Column)
There’s an additional advantage that doesn’t show up in the cost comparison table: flexibility.
A local hire is a fixed cost. If your business needs change — if you grow quickly and need more hours, or if there’s a difficult quarter and you need to reduce costs — your options with a full-time employee are limited. Redundancy is expensive, legally complex, and relationship-damaging.
VAConnect’s month-to-month model means:
- Need more hours? Upgrade your package on 30 days’ notice.
- Need fewer hours? Step down a tier on 30 days’ notice.
- Business crisis? You can pause or cancel on 30 days’ notice.
That flexibility has genuine option value — particularly for businesses in growth phases where capacity needs change frequently.
The Risk-Adjusted Comparison
Let’s make one more adjustment: risk.
With a local hire:
– Recruitment risk: if you hire the wrong person, you’re looking at a performance management process and potential redundancy. Total cost of a wrong local hire: typically £10,000–£25,000 in direct costs (legal, HR, gardening leave) plus management time.
– Turnover risk: the average EA tenure in the UK is 2–3 years. Every hire cycle repeats the recruitment and onboarding costs.
With VAConnect:
– 30-day replacement guarantee at no additional cost if the fit isn’t right
– 98% client retention rate over 14 months — meaning the VA stays, which eliminates the hire cycle
– The agency absorbs the replacement cost if they get the match wrong
The risk-adjusted comparison is even more favourable to the managed VA model than the headline cost comparison.
When Does the Local Hire Win?
Intellectual honesty: there are scenarios where a local hire is the right choice.
If physical presence is required: Executive support involving in-person meetings, physical document handling, or client-facing appearances requires local presence. This is less common than it used to be, but it’s real for some roles.
If very senior C-suite support is required at enterprise scale: For a FTSE 100 or Fortune 500 CEO, the EA role has requirements — extensive in-person time, Board-level access, simultaneous interpreter-level event management — that remote support can supplement but not fully replace.
If you need EU/UK regulatory compliance as a core role requirement: Some roles in heavily regulated industries require the EA to be an employee in a specific jurisdiction for compliance reasons. This is rare for EA roles specifically but worth checking.
For the vast majority of SMBs, scaling businesses, and executives in professional services, tech, finance, or consulting — none of these exceptions apply. The comparison holds.
Making the Case Internally
If you need to justify this cost comparison to a board, CFO, or business partner:
- Build the table above with your local equivalent salary (adjust for your city/country)
- Add the actual recruitment quote you’ve received from an agency
- Include your HR administration time at your hourly rate
- Compare to VAConnect’s package pricing for the equivalent hours
The case is typically self-evident once the numbers are side by side.
If they push back on quality: show them the Clutch reviews. Verified, independent, public.
If they push back on risk: show them the replacement guarantee and the 98% retention rate.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does this comparison hold for US businesses?
Yes — and the saving is often higher. A mid-level EA in New York costs $65,000–$85,000 base salary, before employer taxes, benefits, and overhead. Total annual cost: $90,000–$120,000. Against VAConnect’s Full-Day EVA at $38,736/year, the saving is $51,000–$81,000.
What about Australian businesses?
Australia’s EA salary market is comparable to the UK. Mid-level EA in Sydney: AUD $60,000–$75,000 base. Total cost: AUD $80,000–$100,000. At current AUD/USD rates, that’s $52,000–$65,000. Against $38,736/year for a VAConnect EVA, savings of $13,000–$26,000 per year. Less dramatic than UK/US but still compelling.
What if I only need part-time support?
The part-time comparison is even more stark. A part-time local hire (20 hours/week) in the UK typically costs £22,000–£28,000/year base plus proportionate NI, pension, and overhead — total $36,000–$50,000. VAConnect’s Half-Day package is $20,736/year ($1,728/month). Saving: $15,000–$29,000 per year.
Does the saving account for the difference in hours?
Yes. VAConnect’s Full-Day package is 160 hours/month — equivalent to full-time employment. The comparison is apples-to-apples on hours.
Is this available for non-UK/US businesses?
VAConnect places South African VAs with clients globally — including European, Australian, and Middle Eastern businesses. The cost comparison holds for any market where equivalent local executive assistant costs are above $38,736/year (which covers most developed markets).
The Bottom Line
The $25,000 headline is, if anything, conservative. The actual saving — when you include NI, pension, recruitment, training, equipment, office space, and management overhead — is typically $30,000–$50,000 per year compared to an equivalent local hire in the UK or US.
And the quality isn’t a compromise. It’s the same calibre of professional support, delivered by a South African EA with genuine cultural and timezone alignment for UK and Commonwealth markets — at a fraction of the all-in local hire cost.
The $25,000 you keep in your business isn’t abstract. It’s capital for growth. It’s the salary for your next hire. It’s the marketing budget for your next campaign. Or it’s just breathing room — which has value too.
Run the numbers for your situation. Then book a strategy call with Karen — bring the specifics of your market and role requirements, and we’ll build the comparison together.