Most bars arrive at this question after a weekend: a stack of missed calls, a message folder nobody opened, and somebody suggesting you get a person in to deal with it. Here is what that person costs, and what the alternative costs, using the published 2026/27 rates from GOV.UK. Every figure is checkable against the sources at the bottom.
What does a part-time person cost a bar in 2026?
More than the hourly rate. The rate on the rota is where the number starts.
For one person, 20 hours a week, at the National Living Wage of £12.71 an hour:
| Cost | How it is worked out | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Wage | 20 hours × 52 weeks × £12.71 | £13,218.40 |
| Employer National Insurance | 15% of pay above £5,000 | £1,232.76 |
| Employer pension | 3% of pay above £6,240 | £209.35 |
| Total a year | £14,660.51 |
And that is the floor. It leaves out recruitment, training, uniform, payroll admin and the hours you spend managing somebody.
How much cover does "20 hours a week" really buy?
928 hours a year, not 1,040.
Almost every worker is legally entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid holiday. So you pay for 52 weeks and get 46.4 weeks of someone actually being there.
- 46.4 weeks × 20 hours = 928 hours of cover.
So what does one hour of cover actually cost?
£15.80 an hour.
Our maths using GOV.UK rates, 2026. Working shown above.
£14,660.51 divided by 928 hours of cover is £15.80. So a £12.71 hour costs about 24% more than the rate on the rota once National Insurance, pension and holiday are counted.
Work it out for your own rota: hourly rate × weekly hours × 52, then add 15% of everything above £5,000, then add 3% of everything above £6,240. Divide the total by (weekly hours × 46.4).
And what does an AI receptionist cost a bar?
Sorino starts at £299 a month, which is £3,588 a year. It is priced per property and the first month is free. The exact figure is confirmed after a conversation, because a single bar and a group are not the same job.
And it covers the hours a rota never will: the Friday at nine when nobody can hear the phone, the message at midnight, the Sunday when you are shut and somebody is booking thirty for the 19th.
AI receptionist vs a part-time person vs an answering service vs doing it yourself
| Option | Cost a year | Hours covered | What it can do | What it cannot do |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part-time person | £14,660 | 928 | Everything. Pulls pints, reads a room, calms an upset customer | Be there at 2am, or on the 5.6 weeks they are on holiday |
| AI agent (Sorino) | From £3,588 | Every hour | Answers calls, chats, emails and messages; takes bookings; answers from your own knowledge base | Anything physical. Anything that needs real human judgement or care |
| Answering service | Varies, typically per call or per minute | Their opening hours | Takes a message from a human | Usually cannot see your availability, so it takes a message rather than a booking |
| Doing it yourself | £0 in cash | Whatever is left of you | Everything, in your own voice | Scale. The phone rings at 7:40pm while you are behind the bar, and it will keep ringing |
Is an AI receptionist actually cheaper than hiring?
On cost, yes: £3,588 against £14,660, and it covers every hour rather than 928 of them.
That comparison only holds for the work an agent can actually do, so weigh it against the job you are really trying to fill.
- If the gap is behind the bar, recruit. Nothing here pours, changes a keg or handles a room at closing time.
- If the gap is the phone and the messages, a new starter is a costly fix, because your enquiries do not arrive during their shift. They arrive at eleven at night, on a Sunday, and while the room is too loud to hear a ringtone.
- If the gap is group bookings, the area hire, the minimum spend and the deposit, that is written work that can be answered the moment it lands instead of on Monday.
When would we tell a bar not to bother?
Four cases where we would tell you not to bother:
- The gap is behind the bar, not on the phone. Recruit, and we will tell you so.
- Hardly anyone rings or messages you. If it is four enquiries a week, £299 a month is a poor deal. Leave it.
- Your prices and packages live in somebody's head. An agent working from an old package will quote a price you no longer do, and a confident wrong number on a party of thirty is worse than no answer at all.
- Being hard to get hold of is part of the appeal. Some rooms trade on exactly that. Protect it.
What does it actually do all day?
One agent, four ways in, all reading from the same knowledge base:
- Voice. Picks up over a loud room, answers the question and takes the booking.
- Chat. Answers the person on your website comparing you with two other bars right now.
- Email. Works the inbox, so a request for an area on a Friday is not still unopened on Monday.
- Social. Replies to the Instagram and WhatsApp messages that arrive after last orders, which is when most of them do.
- Knowledge base. Your areas and capacities, packages, minimum spend, hours, policies and availability, feeding all four so every answer matches.
It does not guess. If the answer is not in the knowledge base it says it will find out and passes it over. Food and allergen answers come from your record or they do not get made. Anybody who wants a person gets one.
Frequently asked questions
How much does an AI receptionist cost for a small bar?
From £299 a month, priced per property, first month free. A single bar and a group are priced differently, so the figure is confirmed after a conversation.
Is it cheaper than putting somebody on the phone part-time?
On cost, yes: £3,588 a year against £14,660 for a 20 hour week, and it covers every hour instead of 928 of them. It is only a fair comparison for the phone, the inbox and the messages. For hands behind the bar, recruit.
What is the true hourly cost of a minimum wage employee in the UK in 2026?
About £15.80 an hour of actual cover, against a £12.71 headline rate. The difference is 15% employer National Insurance above £5,000, 3% pension above £6,240, and the fact that 5.6 weeks of the year are paid holiday. That £15.80 is our own arithmetic from the published GOV.UK rates, not a published statistic.
Does this replace anyone behind the bar?
No, and if that is what you need it for, it is the wrong product. It takes the phone calls and messages off the people you already have. 69% of survey respondents are already operating at or below the capacity they need, so for most bars this is about covering hours that have already gone, not removing anyone.
Can it hold an area, or does it just take a message?
It takes the booking, and holds the area against live availability. That is the difference between something that can actually see your diary and a message service leaving you a name to ring back.
What if somebody asks it something it has no answer for?
It says so and hands to a person. It does not invent an answer.
This is the bars edition. There is a wider report on what a part-time person really costs, covering hotels, restaurants and bars together.
Read the full reportSources
We do not publish a figure unless it is real and attributable. The numbers on this page are:
- National Living Wage (21 and over) is £12.71 an hour from April 2026. GOV.UK, 2026. gov.uk/national-minimum-wage-rates
- Employer National Insurance is 15%, with a secondary threshold of £5,000 a year. HM Revenue & Customs, 2026/27. gov.uk/guidance/rates-and-thresholds-for-employers-2026-to-2027
- Employer minimum pension contribution is 3% of qualifying earnings, £6,240 to £50,270. GOV.UK. gov.uk/workplace-pensions
- Statutory holiday entitlement is 5.6 weeks. GOV.UK. gov.uk/holiday-entitlement-rights
- 69% of survey respondents are operating at or below 85% of required capacity. UKHospitality members' survey, Q3 2025. ukhospitality.org.uk
The £14,660.51, the 928 hours and the £15.80 an hour are our own arithmetic from the four GOV.UK sources above. The working is shown above so you can check it. They are not published statistics and we are not presenting them as such.