Parasol Reviews 

This was my first time working as a contractor, as I had been a full-time employee throughout my career. Because I found an outside-IR35 contract quickly and needed to start at short notice, Parasol was recommended to me as an umbrella company.

My experience was very poor. Their expenses policy was rigid and offered no flexibility. I also found their communication patronising. At one point, they even questioned why I needed to attend the company’s office and asked me to formally justify it.

Parasol charged me more than £500 per month, and I could not see value for money in return. In my view, the service was unprofessional and poorly delivered. Around six weeks after starting, I gave notice on 24/04/26. I have since set up my own company and hired an accountant to handle the same work at a fraction of the cost, with a far more seamless and straightforward service.

To make matters worse, a week after receiving my final payment, I had to chase for my P45, which I had been told would be sent as soon as final payment had been made. I was then told that I had not resigned, despite the fact that I had submitted my notice in writing on 24/04/26 and that it had been acknowledged. I was later instructed to complete the resignation online, which should have been made clear when my written notice was first acknowledged.

Overall, based on my experience, I would recommend setting up your own limited company if possible. If that is not an option, I would still advise looking carefully at alternatives before choosing Parasol.

The one person at Parasol who was effective, polite and appeared to know what she was doing was Faye.

In summary and to end on a positive note Parasol need more Fayes!

Jen was very helpful and provided the requested document without any delay

TrustID is and continues to be utterly useless. Fails constantly, doesn't tell you it has poor compatibility with certain mobile browsers (Firefox in my case) and fails with no useful error messages

Edit: Review knocked down from 3 to 1 star as Parasol contacted me repeatedly without asking permission to, asked me to remove my review as "it worked for me in the end" and at no point addressed the actual issue.

Simple joining process, excellent support

My experience / collaboration with the company was a pleasant surprise. They helped me anytime I needed, they answered to my questions, anytime I had one, they made a stressful process completely painless, and I really appreciate their patience and expertise. Thanks again for your support!

Spoke to Kim and she was amazing. Great service. Easy on boarding. Top staff.

Super easy with onboarding, friendly team who make contact and tell you everything you need to know. Can’t fault them.

The margin for the standard package I was quoted by Vicente was £14.90, but on the contract the margin was £29.75 per week which was doubled. Parasol managers explained that every agency gets different rates which is unfair considering my margin rate was £22 for the Plus package in January this year (for a better package with all the benefits). In my previous contract with them they kept getting my pension details wrong which resulted in big delays of processing the pension payments and my pension provider used to receive the payments up to two months late, it was a bad experience overall.

PRABHJOT KAUR provided excellent, professional, seamless and prompt service. From start to finish, the service was beyond expectation. I give Prabhjot my highest recommendation.
Ola Ogunfeitimi.

I had a very positive experience with Parasol during my onboarding process. Melissa was extremely helpful, patient, and prompt in clarifying all my questions regarding the contract and onboarding details. She made the process much smoother and easier to understand. Really appreciate the support and professionalism throughout. Thank you, Melissa!

I would just like to make it known how very helpful Louis at Parasol pay/finance office was on Friday with me. He had the best possible manner on the phone, was very knowledgable and handled the call with me with perfect helpfulness and patience. He also made no mention of going beyond 5 o’clock…I noticed after a few minutes. Louis did not ask for this feedback….I just thought that he deserved recognition for such an excellent manner and professionalism… he is a natural for customer service…very well done Louis …thank you!😊👍

Thank you for all your assistance and guidance in the last 4 and half years. In particular thanks to Alison for her patience and support.

Georgia helped me set up my private pension and provided an excellent service throughout. Georgia was highly professional, communicated clearly, and responded quickly to all queries. Overall, a very smooth process with great customer service.

My onboarding has been really well
Looked after right through to payment well done to Charlotte who has been amazing

Used the built in support chat for the first time today. Very quick allocation of a support member (Andy Q) who dealt with my question straight away.

Good first impression of this feature.

Thanks Ryan for your very quick and helpful advice.

I am an Account Director working through Parasol and I'm always in touch with different requests. From setting up new assignments through questions on my invoices, payments, holidays. Jen is the one who picks up most of my requests and she's always been helpful and lovely. It's a pleasure working with her.

Fast service
Good communication

All staff members at Parasol have been engaging, professional and courteous throughout (especially Tania!)

Although I am only with them for a short engagement, I feel properly looked after.