How you can find the best virtual assistant for small businesses in the UK

Defining “Best”. What you need to consider when searching for a virtual assistant in the UK

Googling ‘best virtual assistant for small businesses in the UK’ shouldn’t overwhelming or time consuming. You need a quick, straightforward way to meet someone who’ll tackle your to-dos, save you money, and free up your time.

At Inspired Lifestyle Management, I’ve spent years working with clients exactly like you. Business owners and senior leadership teams who need to outsource some of their admin tasks to a virtual assistant they can rely on. 

I’ve learned that the best VA for your small business is when you find that person who ‘gets’ your business, frees up your time, proves their impact, and is someone you can trust.

In this guide, I’ll share the exact criteria and questions you need to define “best” for your unique needs. 

What your small business needs from a virtual assistant

Every business has its own top priorities, so your choice of virtual assistant company should reflect the support you need most. Maybe you’re after a marketing-savvy VA to handle your content and social media, an HR-focused VA to manage onboarding and compliance, or a project-management VA to keep every deadline on track

Often, business owners searching for a virtual assistant prioritise hourly rates above everything else. While affordability needs to be a core part of your decision-making, I always advise clients that there are certain non-negotiables that they should be thinking about from the outset of their search. 

These non-negotiables are more important than pricing structures.

If your chosen VA falls short in any of these areas, it could lead to bigger problems later down the line. 

So you need to make sure you ask about the following:

• Is the person reliable and responsive? You are searching for a virtual assistant service in the UK because that’s where your business is based. You need someone who will work the same hours as you, facilitating same-day replies, fluent linguistic skills and understanding the cultural sensitivities of the UK business sector.

• Do they have industry-relevant expertise? If there’s a particular tool or software you expect your VA to use, then you need to ask them about their proficiency. If you want your VA to manage your billing, then they need to be familiar with Xero, QuickBooks or Free Agent. Similarly, if you want your virtual assistant to help you with your marketing, then they need to be familiar with tools such as Canva or Mailchimp. 

• Are they aware of specific compliance matters? Your virtual assistant needs to be someone you can rely on and trust. Therefore, you need to have high expectations when it comes to confidentiality and data security. They need to be aware of the complexities of GDPR legislation (I recommend always checking that your VA is registered with the ICO) or any sector-specific guidelines that you are obligated to adhere to. 

At Inspired Lifestyle Management, my personal specialism is event management and lifestyle management. I become your second pair of hands to help you plan your diary, book your travel arrangements and make sure that your schedule is kept up to date so you can manage a better work-life balance. 

It goes without saying that everything I do adheres to compliance protocols and data confidentiality and all calls and data handled under strict GDPR protocols. As I am based in Devon, you can feel confident that I work the same hours as you. 

What makes the best virtual assistants stand out from the crowd?

It’s almost impossible to know how many people are working as virtual assistants in the UK, as there is no distinct HMRC category to confirm those figures. However, the Society of Virtual Assistants has more than 6,000 active members, so to find the best VA for your SME, you need to find someone who goes above and beyond to become a genuine growth partner, rather than someone who just offers basic admin support. 

What tasks do you want to outsource to a VA?

Before you start comparing virtual assistant companies or scrolling through endless profiles, take a moment to define what support your business actually needs. 

Many small businesses in the UK aren’t quite sure what they need at first. That’s where a generalist virtual assistant can be a game-changer. They can offer flexible support across admin, customer service, diary management, and light marketing. It’s like having a reliable extra pair of hands who can seamlessly jump between departments.

Start by jotting down the recurring tasks that slow you down each month. What do you keep putting off? What could someone else do faster, better, or more consistently? This list becomes your hiring brief and helps you choose a virtual assistant company that aligns with your goals, your workflow, and your growth plans.

Consider how you will onboard your virtual assistant.

You are searching for a VA who can jump on and crack on with the work that you need done. It makes sense, after all, your time is extremely limited, which is why you are looking for a VA in the first place. But for the relationship to start well, you need to think about how the onboarding process will work. This is where we work together cohesively from the outset to delegate tasks, set expectations, clarify approval processes and learn how to create an effective working relationship. 

As I’ve been providing virtual assistant services for SMEs in the UK for years, the onboarding process is something which I’ve simplified. I’ve got clear scope documents in place and shared dashboards that allow me to keep you updated in real-time, so you always know what I’m working on and when. Those processes are essential for any positive working relationship, as they allow the trust and collaborative working processes to be built far quicker, so your business can see better benefits. 

Can your VA provide tangible metrics to show their impact?

Hiring a virtual assistant isn’t just about ticking off tasks – it’s about reclaiming time, improving workflows, and driving meaningful business outcomes. The best virtual assistants for small businesses in the UK don’t just deliver work; they track their impact so you can see the value in black and white.

Here are a few suggestions on how you can ask your potential virtual assistant to track their progress. 

• Is your VA tracking their time? One of the clearest indicators of value is how many hours you get back. As your virtual assistant, I’ll log the time I spend on tasks, and you can use that data to compare it to how long it would’ve taken you or your team.

For example, one of my common tasks as your Virtual Assistant will be to triage your inbox, manage your calendar and chase any unpaid invoices. If I save you just one hour per day, this could be up to 20 hours a month (almost three working days), which you’ve got back to spend on other areas of your business. 

• What are the secondary metrics to track? Your small business is considering investing in a virtual assistant to help reduce bottlenecks and keep your business moving. Ideally, you want to benefit from rapid task turnarounds, fewer missed deadlines and a reduction in the backlog of admin or customer queries. 

I like to use shared dashboards with my clients so you can see any progress in real time. At a glance, you’ll be able to see how many leads have been followed up on, how many discovery calls have been booked in, how many tasks have been ticked off, or how many social posts have been scheduled. 

Where should you go to find the best virtual assistant for your business?

As mentioned earlier, you’ve gone straight to Google (or even gen-AI tools like ChatGPT or CoPilot) to try and find recommendations of who to work with. But you’re still feeling overwhelmed and unsure of who to ask for help. 

I wanted to get to grips with how business owners are searching for virtual assistant services in the UK, so I headed over to Reddit to see exactly what business owners want and need. Using the insights from r/Entrepreneur and r/smallbusiness threads, it’s clear that there’s a range of options available in the UK. 

• You can choose a virtual assistant freelancer or work with a VA agency. Both options will have pros and cons. As a freelance virtual assistant, I know how hard I work to provide exceptional services for my small business clients. You’re always talking directly with me, and my clients know how much I genuinely care about them as well as their business. There are some great VA agencies in the UK, but you may find that you don’t always get a choice of who you work with. 

• You can find a virtual assistant via work-matching platforms, but nothing beats personal recommendations. Yes, it’s possible to find a virtual assistant using platforms such as Fiverr, Upwork or PeoplePerHour, but if you’re searching for a long-lasting relationship, I would recommend asking peers for recommendations or building relationships with potential virtual assistants through LinkedIn (feel free to send me a connection request!) 

You deserve to work with someone you can trust, and someone who will care about your business as much as you do. That’s why you should always ask people for recommendations – that way, you can get the best VA for your specific business needs. 

As your best virtual assistant, I’m not a task ticker, I’m your growth partner.

In my opinion, the best virtual assistants don’t just do the work; they help improve how the work gets done.

I’m here to offer proactive problem-solving, strategic insight, and reliable task management, working seamlessly with you, your team, and your stakeholders.

I have over 20 years of experience, 5 specifically as a VA and I am ICO-registered and fully insured. On average, I’ve helped clients reclaim an average of 5 hours per week, making me the best virtual assistant for your small business. 

With so much at stake, you can’t afford to risk hiring someone simply because they are cheap. Instead, the best virtual assistant for small businesses in the UK will be someone who understands that you need to free up your time to spend on higher-priority, business growth tasks. 

If you’re still doing everything yourself, now is the time to consider delegating. Relying on someone else for the first time can seem daunting, but hiring a virtual assistant service could be the best decision you make to kickstart your business growth. 

If you want to reclaim your time, pick up the phone and book a discovery call. 

Slots fill quickly, so let’s chat this week.