SB Pay Achieves SafeRec Certification, Reinforcing Compliance for Recruitment Partners

This milestone marks a significant step forward in our ongoing commitment to compliance, transparency, and the protection of every part of the supply chain, especially our valued recruitment agency partners. To view our official SafeRec directory listing, please visit the SafeRec website (umbrella directory).

What SafeRec Certification Means

SafeRec audits payroll in real time, cross-referencing every payslip against HMRC data to create a fully transparent audit trail.

While many umbrella companies claim compliance, SafeRec certification enables SB Pay to prove it, with real-time, verifiable evidence available to all parties in our supply chain. This isn’t retrospective auditing or periodic checks. It’s a continuous, live validation of payroll accuracy and tax compliance.

Why This Matters More Than Ever

With Joint and Several Liability coming into force (April 2026), the risks for recruitment agencies and end clients have never been greater. Under these rules, agencies can be held liable for unpaid PAYE and NICs if any umbrella company in their supply chain fails to meet compliance standards. SafeRec certification fundamentally changes that risk landscape.

By partnering with SB Pay, agencies gain:

• Real-time evidence of compliant payroll processing
• Verification that tax deductions are accurate and paid to HMRC
• Complete transparency across every worker engagement

This gives agencies the confidence to refer contractors, knowing compliance is independently verified rather than just promised.

The Added Strength of FCSA Accreditation

Alongside SafeRec certification, SB Pay is also an accredited member of the Freelancer & Contractor Services Association (FCSA).

FCSA accreditation is widely regarded as the gold standard for umbrella company compliance in the UK. It involves rigorous, independent audits covering tax compliance, legal and operational processes, and worker rights.

For recruitment agencies, this provides an additional layer of assurance that SB Pay operates to the highest industry standards and adheres to strict regulatory and ethical guidelines.

When combined with SafeRec’s real-time payroll validation, our FCSA accreditation ensures both robust governance and live compliance evidence, a powerful combination in today’s regulatory environment.

FCSA accreditation is more than just a badge that payroll providers earn. Every year, SB Pay undergoes a thorough assessment to ensure our processes continue to meet the highest compliance standards, and we’re delighted to have successfully passed every annual audit to date.

A New Standard for Agency Due Diligence

SafeRec was designed to give agencies the hard compliance evidence they’ve been demanding from the payroll providers within their supply chain. As a SafeRec-certified payroll provider, SB Pay can now provide continuous, real-time compliance data, helping agencies strengthen their due diligence processes, reduce financial and reputational risk, and demonstrate compliance to clients with confidence.

In a rapidly evolving regulatory landscape, this level of transparency is no longer a nice-to-have; it’s essential.

A Word from SB Pay

Giles Gibson, Director at SB Pay, said:

“SafeRec needs little introduction. Sebastian Sauca and his team have done an outstanding job highlighting its value and the reassurance it brings to the supply chain, particularly for recruitment agencies.

With Joint and Several Liability coming into effect in April 2026, we’ve been proactively strengthening our processes and looking for ways to clearly demonstrate our compliance. Achieving SafeRec certification was a natural step. Not only does it reinforce our commitment to the highest standards, but it enables us to prove it transparently to agencies, end clients, and temporary workers.

SafeRec’s technology is setting a new benchmark, transforming how umbrella companies engage with agencies through real-time reporting and instant discrepancy alerts.

We’re excited to show our partners how this enhances due diligence, reduces risk, and provides greater confidence in compliant supply chains. SB Pay has prioritised compliance and transparency since launching in 2017, and now, we can evidence it like never before.”

Partner with Confidence

SB Pay has always prioritised compliance, transparency, and doing things the right way.

Now, with both SafeRec certification and FCSA accreditation, we can provide recruitment agencies with something even more valuable: proof.

If you’re reviewing your supply chain in light of upcoming regulatory changes, now is the time to partner with a provider that delivers certainty, not just assurances.

To discover more about our leading payroll services, including PAYE umbrella, CIS and PEO, please call 020 4591 2677 or email [email protected].