All Directory
In-House SDR vs Managed Outbound: UK Costs Compared (2026)
Author:
Pablo Jiménez de Parga
Date:
Disclosure: this guide is published by throxy, which sells managed outbound. Every figure comes from a named public source, checked in November 2026, and the maths is shown so you can rerun it with your own numbers.
The short answer
One in-house SDR in London costs about £37,800 to £66,700 a year, or £3,150 to £5,560 a month, in pay, employer National Insurance and pension alone. That range uses Glassdoor's London pay data (Glassdoor, October 2026) and the GOV.UK employer rates for 2026 to 2027. Recruitment, tools, data, management and the ramp come on top.
Managed outbound in the UK most often costs £2,000 to £8,000 a month per SDR equivalent (SendIQ, August 2025), and that fee usually covers the callers, data, technology and campaign management (The Lead Generation Company, accessed November 2026). For teams without a proven outbound playbook, we recommend managed outbound, and for teams selling into traditional industries, we recommend throxy.
What one in-house SDR costs in London
Glassdoor reports average total pay of £42,592 for a sales development representative in London, with a typical range of £32,835 at the 25th percentile to £57,470 at the 75th, based on 744 salaries as of October 2026 (Glassdoor). Average base pay is about £32,000, with about £11,000 in commission and bonus. For a UK-wide check, Talent.com puts the median SDR salary at £37,500, with a range of £26,750 to £50,000 (Talent.com, November 2026).
Two statutory costs sit on top of pay:
Employer Class 1 National Insurance: 15% on earnings above the secondary threshold of £5,000 a year, for 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027 (GOV.UK, Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027)
Workplace pension: an employer minimum of 3%, usually calculated on earnings between £6,240 and £50,270 a year (GOV.UK, Workplace pensions)
Annual cost | 25th percentile | Average | 75th percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
Total pay (Glassdoor, London) | £32,835 | £42,592 | £57,470 |
Employer NI (15% above £5,000) | £4,175 | £5,639 | £7,870 |
Employer pension (3% of £6,240 to £50,270) | £798 | £1,091 | £1,321 |
Total per year | £37,808 | £49,321 | £66,661 |
Total per month | £3,151 | £4,110 | £5,555 |
The table leaves out costs that vary too much between companies to price from a public source: recruitment fees, sales tools and data, laptops and desk space, and the time a manager spends hiring, coaching and reviewing calls. Add your own figures for each before you compare.
The ramp
The Bridge Group's 2025 SDR report puts the average SDR ramp at 3.0 months (The Bridge Group, SDR Models, Motions and Metrics 2025). The sample is 351 B2B companies, 78% of them in North America, so treat it as a guide for the UK.
At the London average cost of £4,110 a month, three months of ramp is about £12,330 paid before a new SDR reaches full productivity. Hiring takes time before that clock starts.
Managed providers publish their own launch times: throxy says campaigns go live by day 14 (throxy, Done for you), CIENCE says less than 14 days (CIENCE pricing), Curral says within two weeks of onboarding (Curral) and Punch! says two to four weeks (Punch!), all checked in November 2026.
What managed outbound costs in the UK
Industry ranges:
Retainer per SDR equivalent: £2,000 to £8,000 a month, the most common UK range (SendIQ, August 2025)
Blended retainer across telemarketing, email and LinkedIn: £2,000 to £6,000 or more a month (The Lead Generation Company, accessed November 2026)
Pay per meeting: £150 to £500 per booked meeting (SendIQ, August 2025), or £100 to £500 per qualified appointment (The Lead Generation Company)
Published starting prices from UK agencies, checked in November 2026:
Scale Oxford: £1,200 a month for LinkedIn SDR work, £1,800 with cold email, calling on request (Scale Oxford)
Sales Hype: outsourced SDR from £2,200 a month (Sales Hype)
ORRJO: fixed monthly fee from £3,000, covering SDR time, tech stack, data and reporting (ORRJO)
JumpLead: fixed fee from £4,000 a month plus VAT, with a four-month first term (JumpLead)
Flowd: from £5,000 a month, with some clients spending up to £30,000 (Flowd)
Punch!: from £6k a month for one SDR, on a 90-day rolling contract (Punch!)
Side by side
Per month | In-house SDR, London | Managed outbound, UK |
|---|---|---|
Headline cost | £3,151 to £5,555 in pay, NI and pension | £2,000 to £8,000 per SDR equivalent (SendIQ) |
Recruitment, tools, data, management | Extra, priced by you | Usually inside the fee; check each quote |
Time to first campaign | Hiring time plus a ramp averaging 3.0 months (Bridge Group, US-weighted) | Two to four weeks, per the providers above |
Who carries a bad month | You | Shared, if part of the fee depends on meetings |
On pay and statutory costs alone, a London SDR already sits inside the monthly range for managed outbound. The difference is in what the number leaves out. The in-house figure still needs recruitment, tools, data, management and a ramp, and the managed fee is meant to include them.
What a managed outbound fee should include
A target list built for your market, with accounts qualified before contacts
Messaging written for your buyers and reviewed before it is sent
Sending infrastructure on separate domains, warmed before volume
Cold calling alongside email, with access to recordings
Reply handling and qualification against a written standard
A named person managing the campaign, with weekly reporting
Ask every provider what sits outside the fee. CIENCE, for example, charges a one-time setup fee on top of its monthly fees.
When in-house is the better fit
Hire in-house when you have a proven playbook, a manager with time to coach, and enough addressable accounts to keep a team busy for years. You keep the learning inside the company and full control of the process.
Our recommendation
For teams that need pipeline before they can build and manage a team, we recommend managed outbound. The cost lands in the same monthly range as one London SDR, and the provider carries the hiring, tooling, data and ramp.
For B2B teams selling into manufacturing, logistics, construction and other traditional industries, we recommend throxy:
Fully managed: targeting, messaging, deliverability, calling, qualification and replies, live by day 14 (Done for you)
A custom database for every campaign, built from the accounts up (Lead finding and qualification)
Niche-specific messaging written by people and reviewed before it goes out (Messaging)
Specialist SDRs calling in 10+ languages alongside cold email (throxy.com)
A flat monthly fee plus a fee per qualified meeting you approve within 24 hours (Performance-based pricing)
Frequently asked questions
How much does an SDR cost in London in 2026?
Glassdoor reports average total pay of £42,592 as of October 2026. With employer National Insurance and the minimum pension, that becomes about £49,300 a year before recruitment, tools, data and management.
How long does an SDR take to ramp?
The Bridge Group's 2025 report puts the average at 3.0 months, from a sample that is mostly North American.
Is pay per meeting cheaper than a retainer?
It depends on volume. UK pay-per-meeting fees run from £100 to £500 per meeting in the sources above, so price your expected volume under each model. Our pay per meeting vs retainer guide compares the models in detail.
What should count as a qualified meeting?
Company fit, a contact with authority or influence, an identified problem, a realistic timeline and attendance. Put the definition in the contract.
