What does content help cost in the UK? Agency, consultant, fractional head of content or hire (2026)

• Content marketing agency retainer: £1,500 to £5,000 a month (Whito).
• Done-for-you YouTube: from £1,200 + VAT a month (Steadyhand Productions); Grow's top strategy tier is £30,000 per channel per month.
• Strategy consultant session or audit: £595 to £1,195 (Alan Spicer). Tom's Power hour session is £600.
• Fractional head of content: £4,500 to £7,500 a month with Tom, from £5,995 a month with Callum Johns.
• Full-time head of content: £70,000 to £80,000 a year in salary (Intelligent People), plus employer costs.

The short answer

Content agency retainers

Most suppliers quote on scope, so read every price on this page as where the price starts.

Whito, a UK research publisher that says it is not a content agency, puts agency content retainers at £1,500 to £5,000 a month (UK Content Marketing & Copywriting Costs 2026, read on 29 October 2026).

A retainer pays for output: a number of posts, articles or videos a month to your brief. It works when someone in the business owns the strategy. If nobody does, read Content strategist vs content agency first.

Done-for-you YouTube channel management

Steadyhand Productions, a Glasgow video production agency, lists YouTube marketing "from £1,200 + VAT a month", with most clients paying £1,500 to £2,000 depending on volume (its site, read on 29 October 2026).

Audio & Co, which turns a podcast into YouTube videos and Shorts, lists its Pro Plan at £280 a week, billed monthly at about £1,213, with a 4 week minimum (its site, read on 29 October 2026).

At the top end, Grow lists its monthly YouTube strategy subscription at Core £8,000, Ultimate £15,000 and All-In £30,000 per channel per month, read on 24 and 25 October 2026. That is a strategy service rather than production, so check what each fee covers. For the difference, read YouTube agency or YouTube consultant.

YouTube and content strategy consultants

Consultants usually sell three shapes: an audit, a session or a sprint over a few months.

Alan Spicer lists a written YouTube channel audit at £595, a one hour video call at £799, and a video consultation and deep dive report bundle at £1,195 (his site, read on 29 October 2026).

Dearlingford, a UK fractional content strategist for B2B tech brands, lists retainers at £600, £2,400 and £4,800 a month, and project work at £600 a day with a ten day minimum, and is not VAT registered (services and pricing, read on 29 October 2026).

Tom's Power hour session is £600 for 60 minutes. The three month sprint is by application. For a shortlist of UK YouTube consultants, read Best YouTube consultants in the UK (2026). Most of them do not publish a price.

Fractional head of content or fractional COO

Tom's Fractional Head of Content role, also called fractional COO, is £4,500 to £7,500 a month, with a 6 month minimum, then monthly. The rhythm: a 90 minute sprint every fortnight with your team, a 30 minute check-in every week, a 14 day plan every 14 days, and one studio day a month. More on the Fractional Head of Content, UK page.

Callum Johns, who sells a Fractional Chief Content Officer service, lists a monthly engagement from £5,995 a month and working inside the business at £8,995 a month, each with a six month minimum, with filming, editing, photography, design and paid media quoted separately (how it works, read on 29 October 2026).

What a fractional seat delivered, in two of Tom's roles: Sam Stoffel went from 0 to 500,000 followers in 10 months, and Secret Leaders reached number 2 in the UK Business podcast charts, behind The Diary of a CEO.

Full-time hire: salary plus on-costs

Intelligent People, a UK marketing recruitment agency, says a Head of Content salary typically ranges from £70,000 to £80,000, and that national averages are lower (Head of Content salary, read on 29 October 2026).

On top of the salary, the employer pays National Insurance at 15% on earnings above £5,000 a year (gov.uk, rates for 2026 to 2027), so £10,500 a year on a £75,000 salary. Add at least 3% of qualifying earnings into a workplace pension (gov.uk), plus the cost and the time of hiring.

A salary of £70,000 to £80,000 is about £5,800 to £6,700 a month before those costs. For when each one makes sense, read Fractional Head of Content vs full-time hire.

What is usually not included

• Production. Callum Johns quotes filming, editing, photography, design and paid media separately. A strategy fee rarely includes the editors and producers.
• Ad spend. Treat paid media as its own budget unless a quote says it is included.
• VAT. The standard rate is 20% (gov.uk). Steadyhand Productions quotes plus VAT. Dearlingford is not VAT registered. Ask any supplier, Tom included, whether a price includes it.
• Travel and kit. Steadyhand Productions quotes travel beyond the central belt as a separate line.

How to choose by budget

• Under £1,000, once. A session or an audit, then run it yourself: Tom's Power hour session at £600, or Alan Spicer's written audit at £595.
• £1,000 to £2,500 a month. A done-for-you production plan or the lower end of an agency retainer. It works if you, or someone in the business, already know what to make.
• £4,500 to £9,000 a month. A fractional head of content: £4,500 to £7,500 a month with Tom, from £5,995 with Callum Johns. Budget for the team they build on top.
• About £5,800 a month and up, plus employer costs. A full-time head of content, once the formats, cadence and reporting already work.

Where does Tom sit?

The Content Operators is a consultancy, and what Tom sells is strategy and team leadership, not an agency retainer. He sets the strategy, builds and leads the team inside your business, from your in-house people and freelancers from his network of producers, editors and designers, and can exec produce.

• Power hour session, £600. 60 minute video call. The fundamentals, applied to you. What to make, for whom and in which format.
• The three month sprint, by application (2 spots left). 6 fortnightly 60 minute calls. A seat in your team. The 3 month plan. Fortnightly accountability.
• Fractional Head of Content, £4,500 to £7,500 a month, 6 month minimum, then monthly (1 spot left). Fractional head of content, or fractional COO, for creator and founder-led businesses. I run your content function end to end. Strategy, cadence, team, hiring, tooling and reporting. A senior seat in the business for the cost of a fraction of a full time hire.

How was this page made?

Disclosure: this is Tom Sharman's own site, and Tom sells consulting and the fractional role. Read it with that in mind.

Every outside price comes from the supplier's own site, or a named UK source, read on 29 October 2026, and is quoted as they list it: Whito, Steadyhand Productions, Audio & Co, Alan Spicer, Dearlingford, Callum Johns and Intelligent People. Grow's prices are from its own site, read on 24 and 25 October 2026. National Insurance, pension and VAT rates are from gov.uk, read on 29 October 2026. Nobody paid to be here. Anyone whose price we could not read on their own page is left out.