Live · Key indexed 4,827 roles in the last 24h

AI-native HR & resourcing · est. 2026

One practice. Four sides.
One Key between them.

Fractional HR, project resourcing, contract talent and a candidate-side AI concierge — run as a single agentic practice. Pick where you stand and we'll show you what we do.

I am

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Jobs harvested · 24h

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Candidates indexed · 30d

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Days avg. time-to-fill

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% match satisfaction

What we run

A full HR practice — for everyone in the deal.

Full catalogue →
Employer · perm

Fractional HR & perm hiring

Retainer HR (payroll, contracts, compliance, handbook) plus Recruitment-as-a-Service for perm roles, powered by Key.

See 6 use cases →
Employer · contract

Project & contract resourcing

Specialists on fixed-term contracts — engineers, PMs, finance, paralegals. IR35-aware, briefed, billed by us.

See 6 use cases →
Candidate

Job concierge

Daily jobs feed, CV-to-jobs match scoring and tailored applications written per JD — paid only when you use it.

See 6 use cases →
Contractor

Contractor pipeline

Outside-IR35 filtering, day-rate benchmarking, SOW & umbrella support, between-gigs nudges.

See 6 use cases →

How people use us

Twenty-four real situations.
Find yours.

Filter by what you are. Every card is a recurring conversation we've had — and what we did about it.

Employer · scaling

"We're going from 5 to 25 this year"

Fast-growth founders need HR foundations before they need an HR hire. We set up payroll, contracts, handbook and onboarding — and run perm sourcing for the next 20 seats.

Service: Fractional HR + RaaS · from £1.4k/mo

Employer · cover

"Our HR manager just left"

Short-notice fractional cover from week one — payroll, ER cases, monthly board pack — while we run the replacement search in parallel.

Service: Interim HR cover · start within 7 days

Employer · employer brand

"We can't compete with FAANG on salary"

We rewrite the JD, the careers page and the outbound script around what you actually offer — mission, mandate, autonomy — and Key targets candidates who weight those higher than cash.

Service: Employer-brand sprint · fixed fee

Employer · new UK entity

"We're a US co setting up in the UK"

Companies House, PAYE, pension auto-enrolment, employment contracts under UK law, right-to-work checks. First three hires made for you.

Service: UK setup pack · 4–6 weeks

Employer · compliance

"Our handbook is from 2019 and Slack is on fire"

HR audit, policy refresh, employee handbook rewritten so people actually read it, manager training pack.

Service: HR audit + refresh · fixed fee

Employer · DEI pipeline

"Our shortlist is always the same three faces"

Key sources beyond the LinkedIn graveyard — community boards, returner networks, regional sources — with bias-blind screening for the first cut.

Service: Inclusive sourcing add-on

Contracts · specialist

"We need a Snowflake architect for 6 months"

Specialist contractor on a determined SOW. IR35-status agreed in writing, contract drafted, payment terms protected.

Service: Contract placement · day-rate +%

Contracts · interim

"Our project lost its PM mid-stream"

Interim PM in seat within 5 working days. We hold the contract, you get the person.

Service: Emergency interim · 5-day SLA

Contracts · sprint team

"We need 3 React engineers for a 12-week sprint"

Pod of vetted engineers, common standards, single line of accountability. Burn-down report each Friday.

Service: Sprint pod · flat weekly

Contracts · C-suite

"We need a fractional CFO for Series A prep"

Senior interim with the right shape for your raise — model, data room, investor calls — exiting clean once the round closes.

Service: Fractional C-suite · monthly retainer

Contracts · volume hire

"We need contract recruiters to fill 50 roles in Q3"

Embedded recruiter pod riding on Key's sourcing pipeline — 50 hires across 90 days, weekly metrics.

Service: Embedded RPO · 12-week pod

Contracts · vendor mgmt

"Our freelancer pool has become a finance nightmare"

We become the contracting entity for your existing pool — one invoice from us, IR35 status managed, compliance taken off your desk.

Service: Vendor management of record

Candidate · active

"I was laid off — I need to apply to 50 jobs"

Upload your CV once. Key returns ranked matches updated 5× a day and writes a tailored application kit per click — quality + volume, not spam.

Service: Tailored application kit · pay per use

Candidate · passive

"Only show me £100k+ fully remote roles"

Set thresholds. Key shows nothing else. Weekly digest by email, no doomscrolling.

Service: Passive watch · free tier

Candidate · returner

"I'm returning to work after maternity leave"

CV refresh that handles the gap with confidence, matches against returner-friendly employers, interview prep that anticipates the questions.

Service: Career-return pack · fixed fee

Candidate · sector switch

"My CV doesn't translate to the new sector"

We rewrite your experience in the target sector's language. Key matches against roles that score your transferable skills high.

Service: Sector pivot pack · fixed fee

Candidate · grad

"I graduate in 3 months — entry-level only"

Filtered to graduate schemes, junior roles and apprenticeships. CV optimised for ATS keywords specific to the sector.

Service: Grad concierge · free + paid kit

Candidate · senior

"I'm a senior director — discreet search"

Stealth mode: anonymised CV against shortlisted employers, NDA-managed approach, no public profile changes.

Service: Confidential exec search

Contractor · between gigs

"I'm between contracts and need pipeline"

Key matches your contracting CV against 5×/day inbound roles, ranked by day-rate fit and notice window.

Service: Between-gigs feed · freemium

Contractor · rates

"Am I underpriced for my stack?"

Day-rate benchmark from the live job graph: percentile by skill, sector and region. Updated nightly.

Service: Rate benchmark report

Contractor · IR35

"Show me only outside-IR35 work"

Filter the feed on status. We surface only the roles where the client has confirmed outside, with the SDS attached.

Service: IR35-filtered feed

Contractor · SOW help

"My client's SOW reads like a punch list"

We redraft the SOW to protect scope, milestones, change-control and payment terms — without scaring the client off.

Service: Contract drafting · fixed fee

Contractor · umbrella

"I need an umbrella I can actually trust"

Referrals to compliant, audited umbrella partners — not the loan-scheme shops. Your take-home modelled before you sign.

Service: Umbrella matchmaking · free

Contractor · Ltd Co

"My Ltd co accounts are a tab I keep meaning to open"

Bookkeeping + VAT + payroll for your Ltd Co, with a quarterly call to plan dividends and pension contributions.

Service: Contractor accounting partner

Don't see yours? Open the chat — Key will route you.

Meet Key

The agent that runs between all four sides.

5×/day cron

Harvests jobs

06 · 10 · 13 · 17 · 21 UK. Pulls live UK and remote roles across our source network. De-dupes by hash. Classifies by sector, seniority, skills, IR35-status, work-type.

on upload

Reads your CV

Parses skills, seniority, work-history, right-to-work, salary or day-rate target. Scores against every live role. Returns a ranked match list — not a sea of irrelevance.

on demand

Writes applications

Generates tailored CV + cover letter that reference the JD by name. PDF delivered, ready to send — or auto-delivered where the source accepts it.

on brief

Sources candidates

Reverses the pipeline for employers — describe the role, Key returns ranked candidates from the indexed pool with match-score reasoning.

on submit

Drafts contracts & SOWs

From the placement brief — UK-law employment contracts, contractor SOWs, NDAs, IR35 status determinations. Lawyer-reviewed templates.

weekly

Benchmarks rates

Day-rate and salary percentile reports from the live job graph — for both sides of the desk.

Start with Key →

Why us

An honest practice in a noisy market.

Half the recruitment market is bots pretending to be people; the other half is people pretending to be intelligent. We're a small practice with senior practitioners and agents that do exactly what we say they do.

01

Four sides, one team

The same practice that finds you a contractor finds you a contract. No silos.

02

Pay only for what worked

Candidate features are pay-per-use. Employer placements bill on start date, not on shortlist.

03

Show the agent's work

Every match comes with a reasoning trace. No black box, no leap of faith.

04

GDPR by default

Your CV is yours. Stored encrypted, deletable in one click, never sold.

By the numbers

Made for outcomes you can show your boss.

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Days avg. time-to-fill

Across active placements in 2026 H1.

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% match satisfaction

Candidates who rated their top match "would apply".

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% saved vs. agency fees

RaaS retainer vs. % contingent on a £60k role.

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% of candidates UK right-to-work checked

Status verified before introduction.

Who's behind it

Nine practitioners. One agent. One named human on every account.

Full team page →
AA

Ali Akeel

Founder & Practice Lead

HR, payroll and resourcing across UK SMB. Builds the AI side of the practice. Sits on every account.

AB

Anand Bakshi

Senior Associate · Contracts & IR35

Senior recruiter and resourcing partner. Heads up contract placement, IR35 strategy and vendor management.

ZH

Zahid Hussain

Senior Associate · Tech & Contractors

Tech & contractor specialist. Runs the contractor pipeline and rate benchmarking.

SC

Sarah Chen

Head of Candidate Success

Owns the candidate side end-to-end — upload, match, kit, interview prep. Former in-house TA at two scale-ups.

OB

Olivia Bennett

Head of Employer Partnerships

First call for any new RaaS engagement. Briefs the brief. Scopes the contract. Hands off to delivery.

PS

Priya Sharma

Senior HR Consultant

CIPD-qualified. Runs fractional HR engagements — handbooks, ER cases, policy refresh, manager training.

JO

James O'Connor

Payroll & Compliance Lead

PAYE, pensions, RTI, IR35 SDS. 12 years in UK payroll bureaux. Quietly stops the audits before they start.

AM

Aisha Mensah

Talent Sourcing Lead

Sources beyond the LinkedIn graveyard — returner programmes, community boards, regional networks. Trains Key's sourcing prompts.

MB

Marcus Brooks

Career Coach & Interview Specialist

Runs the sector-pivot and career-return packs. ICF-credentialed. Former hiring manager at three FTSE 250 firms.

Common questions

Before you book a call.

What does theHRkey actually do?

We're an AI-native HR & resourcing practice. We work with employers (perm + contract), with candidates and with contractors — running a single agentic pipeline ("Key") across all four sides plus the human practice on top.

How is Key different from LinkedIn Recruiter or an ATS?

Recruiter is a search tool — we run a sourcing + screening + tailoring pipeline 5× a day, then put a human in the loop. ATS systems are storage. Key is the agent in front of both.

Where are you based, who do you serve?

UK-based practice serving UK and remote-friendly EMEA. UK-law contracts, GDPR-compliant, IR35-aware.

Is my CV / data safe?

Yes. Stored encrypted, never sold or shared without your explicit consent on a per-application basis, deletable in one click. GDPR-default.

What does it cost?

Candidate features are free or pay-per-use (e.g. tailored application kit). Employer engagements are monthly retainers; contract placements are day-rate + margin or fixed-fee. Open the chat to get a tailored quote.

Take the next step

Let Key open the door.

Book a 30-minute discovery call. Or just upload your CV — same care, both sides.