Frequently Asked Questions

Any business can see substantial benefits from finding outsourced or fractional support from Pickle. Large organisations with heavy workloads can reduce overhead costs with outsourced services like customer support, ensuring no client or customer is forgotten. 

Small businesses and startups can also benefit from Pickle’s services. Hiring fractional operations support is an affordable and efficient way to embed experienced professionals into a business in a scalable way. 

No matter the size or scale of a business, we find experienced professionals to become a part of your organisation, to help you thrive.

Our pricing depends on the type of support you need, the seniority required, and how much capacity you’re looking for.

Most clients work with us on a monthly retainer, which gives you consistent support each month and allows us to build a proper rhythm with your business. For one-off projects, transitional support, or more specific needs, we can also scope a fixed arrangement based on what’s involved.

There are no hidden fees, volume-driven upsells, or pressure to take more than you need. Come to us with what’s going on, and we’ll be honest about what something like that typically costs. If the numbers don’t work for both sides, we’ll say so early.

Every engagement is also supported by a clear service agreement, so you know exactly what’s included, how the relationship works, and the standards we hold ourselves and our network to. This gives you the commercial protection and peace of mind you need when bringing external support into sensitive or strategic areas of your business.

Support can usually begin within days, depending on the role and scope. Once we understand where capacity is most constrained, we match you with an experienced embedded contractor who can step into your tools, workflows, and priorities quickly, so you gain momentum fast without a long hiring process.

Pickle works best for growing teams where leadership capacity is the bottleneck. In these moments, the issue isn’t a lack of tools or effort, but a lack of capacity to hold context, follow work through, and keep momentum steady.

Pickle adds experienced, embedded support exactly where that pressure sits, so teams can move forward without adding full-time overhead.

We’re proud to work with any industry, bringing our unique approach to business support to businesses, from technology to manufacturing and beyond. We can work with industries such as: 

• Manufacturing
• Charities
• Education
• Arts
• Finance
• Marketing

For an insight into how we’ve worked with real companies spanning several industries, read our Pickle Case Studies page.

Every person we place goes through a structured assessment before they’re introduced to a client. This includes a review of their background, relevant experience, judgement, communication style and references.

Where needed, we also use practical assessments to understand how they work and solve problems. 

We only work with people we’d trust to represent Pickle — people who take ownership, communicate clearly and can support your business without needing constant management.

It’s easy to scale fractional business support from Pickle. If our fractional or outsourced support has proven that a full-time hire might be a viable option for you, we can assist in scaling your support back. 

If your business is in a period of growth, we can easily scale up your support too, increasing hours of existing support or adding other functions. The Pickle team continue to be on hand for support, no matter how long you’ve been with us. Pickle’s services grow alongside your business.

Yes, many businesses find it useful to use a mixture of our business support services. Once you begin to see the benefits of using outsourced and fractional support, it’s easy to find other ways to embed our services into your business.

Each business is different, so we work alongside you to define your needs and match you with a model that works. We’ve got years of experience and know-how in recruiting business support teams, and can assist from defining your needs through to hiring and scaling. Take a look at our How to Hire a Personal Assistant: When Outsourced or Fractional Support Makes Sense blog to see how independent hiring looks against working with Pickle.

Pickle’s approach is flexible and designed to work for your business. We don’t replace existing departments or employees, but provide you with solutions to gaps in knowledge or personnel. Whether you need one of our services, or a combination of a few, we create a bespoke package designed just for your business.

If the support doesn’t feel quite right, we’ll have an honest conversation early and work through what needs to change.

Sometimes it’s a simple calibration issue. Sometimes the scope has shifted, or the working style needs adjusting. If it’s a genuine mismatch, we’ll help you find a better fit.

We don’t defend placements that aren’t working. Our priority is making sure the support is right for your business.

Fractional Support is a business model in which experienced professionals are embedded within a business to provide expert knowledge and services.

This is commonly done with leadership roles like CFO’s and operations managers, but can also be in the form of executive assistance and fractional HR teams, for example. It’s a way for businesses of any size to access the expertise and staffing they need, without the restrictions and cost of a full-time hire.

For more information, take a look at our blog What Does Fractional Support Mean? A Simple Guide For Modern Businesses.

A fractional EA (executive assistant) can handle a wide array of tasks to suit the needs of the business and industry. This includes:

• Inbox triaging
• Corporate communications
• Report and document support
• Event coordination
• Calendar and diary management

If you’re unsure whether an EA would fit your operational needs, chat with our team to discuss what you’re looking for, and we can recommend the most suitable fractional support for you.

A virtual assistant provides support on set tasks, such as email management, data entry and reporting, while fractional support takes a more strategic approach with an individual (or small group) being made a part of a business. 

Virtual assistants are much more task-based, while fractional support provides expert knowledge for the running and improvement of the business.

Yes! Even if you’re looking for one person, a fractional model of employment could still be beneficial. Whether you simply want to save money and only pay for the hours you need, or you want to road test an EA in your business before committing fully, our models are flexible and designed for this very purpose. 

For real-world testimonials on the benefits of fractional executive assistants found through Pickle, read our case study: Lantum Creates Space To Scale With EA Support From Pickle.

‘Administrative support’ is a broad term, and for good reason. Organisations across the country have varying administrative needs, meaning our fractional administrative support teams can take on almost anything you need them to. Tasks commonly include: 

• Calendar management
• Meeting organisation and travel booking
• Reporting
• Inbox organisation 
• Daily operational admin
• Client coordination
• Document preparation

If you’re unsure whether fractional administrative support meets your needs, contact us today to speak with one of the Pickle team, and we’ll be happy to help you find the right option. 

The key difference between fractional support and outsourcing is how embedded the support is within your organisation. Fractional support focuses on hiring experienced higher-level professionals and embedding them into the business to help with top-level operational planning and decision-making. 

Outsourcing involves entire processes or roles being completed by an external body, not working as part of the business but on its behalf. Outsourced teams often work remotely, in digital customer support or HR, for example.

Absolutely, all outsourced support from Pickle is human-based. Financial and time savings come from having qualified and experienced team members in place at the right time, not from relying heavily on tech and AI. 

Our HR outsourcing, for example, has been specifically designed for organisations wanting to focus on team wellbeing and safety, with an HR department that cares. This reduces the reliance some businesses have on HR tasks and support falling to other leaders, without the experience or knowledge for effective HR.

Yes, they can! In a world where finances, taxes and all bookkeeping documentation are digitised, our professional bookkeepers can provide consistent and accurate support without needing to visit or trawl through paper records.

If you are still using paper records, speak to a member of the Pickle team about how our outsourced bookkeeping services can be used to get you set up with a secure, digital infrastructure.

Happy customers are much more likely to remain with an organisation and leave positive reviews. Even if the core services or products have been provided without a hitch, delayed, unprofessional or inaccurate customer service experiences can be enough to leave a negative impression of your business. 

By protecting customers, and giving them an efficient, professional and friendly customer support experience, your business can reduce negative reviews, have good customer retention and even receive more customers through happy word of mouth. 

Don’t just take it from us, though. Numan, a digital health platform, worked with Pickle to embed outsourced customer support. This is what they had to say about their success: 

“We have had unexpected spikes in demand, and it’s great to know we have a partner who’s there for us when we alone can’t deliver the quality of service we aspire to”. 

For more about this partnership, read the full Numan case study.