Alternatives
Designated PA alternatives
Designated PA alternatives include national UK agencies with published rates (Virtalent, SmartPA, Time etc), a local franchise network (Pink Spaghetti), lower-cost delivery (AVirtual, AssistBPO) and telephone answering (Moneypenny). Seven options are set out below with the figures each provider publishes, checked in September 2026.
· Reviewed by Nimra Khalid
- Checked on their own site
- Dated and sourced
- No ratings or rankings
Overview
Designated PA supports London companies across PA work, accountancy, bookkeeping and marketing, and has done so for more than ten years. Pricing is agreed in a consultation rather than published, which suits buyers who want scope shaped around them and frustrates buyers who want to compare numbers before a meeting. Firms also look around when they want live telephone answering as a named service, hours that run past the London working day, or a provider that can staff a support queue and a back office as well as a PA desk. The list below gives seven options with what each publishes. Nothing is ranked and no ratings or reviews are quoted. AssistBPO comes first because this is our site, and it is described on the same terms as the others, including its published rate card.
How does Designated PA compare with AssistBPO?
The same ten rows on every comparison page, so two providers can be read against each other without re-learning the layout.
| AssistBPO | Designated PA | Source | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who does the work | Employees of the group on a scheduled shift, with a trained backup and a team lead | A London agency team covering PA, accountancy, bookkeeping and marketing | designatedpa.com, Sep 2026 |
| Published price | Published rate card, plus a costed staffing plan within 1 business day | Not published; quoted after a consultation. UK agency PA rates run £25 to £45 an hour plus VAT | designatedpa.com and Report §3.2, Sep 2026 |
| Live telephone answering | Included; a receptionist answers, transfers and places calls in your name on a set shift | Not detailed on the site | designatedpa.com, Sep 2026 |
| Markets and hours | UK, US, Canada and Australia in local hours; after-hours and AEST shifts on request | United Kingdom, with London as the published focus | designatedpa.com, Sep 2026 |
| Finance support | Bookkeeping assistants on the back-office desk working inside Xero or QuickBooks Online | Accountancy and bookkeeping published alongside PA support | designatedpa.com, Sep 2026 |
Designated PA facts as published on the dates shown. The AssistBPO rate card is published too, from $400 a month, and the staffing plan is what sets where on it you land. Spotted a change? Tell us and we update the row with a new date.
Who should choose AssistBPO, and who should choose Designated PA?
Choose AssistBPO if
- You want a staffed desk with the telephone answered live every working day
- You need cover in US, Canadian or Australian hours as well as London
- You expect to add a support or back-office person within the year
Choose Designated PA if
- A London agency with UK staff is what your clients expect to see
- PA work and finance support should come from one supplier
- You prefer a scope conversation to a rate card
Which companies are the main Designated PA alternatives?
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AssistBPO
Employed assistants, receptionists, support agents and back-office staff from SS Support Network LLC, working UK, US, Canadian or Australian hours. Named assistant, trained backup, team lead, daily end-of-day report, twenty-minute weekly review and a monthly QA scorecard.
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Virtalent
A national UK agency matching owners with UK-resident assistants for diary, inbox, admin and marketing work, with rollover of unused hours and an account manager on the relationship.
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SmartPA
Business support from a network of trained partners under one brand since 2008, with a SmartPOD of colleagues providing cover and call handling among the published services.
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AVirtual
A London-registered company delivering with UK and South African assistants across diary, inbox, travel, bookkeeping support, marketing and virtual reception, on packages that start small.
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Pink Spaghetti
Local franchise offices across the UK, including several in and around London. You deal with the franchise owner in your territory and pay only for the hours you use.
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Time etc
Experienced freelance assistants in monthly hour bundles, billed to the second, with rollover, no setup fee and the option to share an assistant across a small team.
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Moneypenny
One of the largest telephone answering businesses in the UK, founded in 2000, giving you a briefed receptionist with a larger team behind her, plus an AI receptionist option and US operations.
How does AssistBPO work?
A discovery call, then a named assistant proposed within 72 hours. That person works your hours inside your tools through your own user accounts, sends an end-of-day report, and is covered by a trained backup when they are off. A team lead runs a 20-minute weekly review with you and scores calls and tickets monthly. Assistants are employees of the group, never freelancers, and you never co-employ them. Plans start at $400 a month for 40 hours, at $10 an hour, and rates improve as you add assistants. Get a staffing plan within 1 business day.
Keep comparing
- Designated PA vs AssistBPOThe head-to-head table for Designated PA
- Belay alternativesPremium onshore agency
- Boldly alternativesPremium onshore agency
- Athena alternativesPremium onshore agency
- Time etc alternativesPremium onshore agency
- All comparisons, by familyIncluding the rest of the premium onshore agencies
What this desk actually does
- A named executive assistant in your hoursService
- Dedicated virtual assistant services for the work that eats your dayService
- Executive & admin deskThe desk this sits on
- What moves a staffing planThe rate card, and the six things that move a plan off it
Frequently asked questions
Is AssistBPO cheaper than Designated PA?
Plans depend on hours, desks and coverage. Get a staffing plan within 1 business day. Designated PA publishes no rate card and quotes after a consultation, with UK agency PA work generally at £25 to £45 an hour plus VAT (Report §3.2, 2026). With no published figure on either side, insist on written quotes against one task list, one set of weekly hours and one cover arrangement, then compare the totals.
Which Designated PA alternative is better for phones?
Moneypenny answers telephones as its core business with round-the-clock cover and an AI option. AssistBPO staffs a receptionist on a set shift who answers in your name, books appointments and transfers calls, then works the inbox between them. SmartPA and AVirtual publish reception among their services. Virtalent, Time etc and Pink Spaghetti at national level do not list live answering as of September 2026.
Which alternatives publish their prices?
Virtalent, SmartPA, Pink Spaghetti, AVirtual and Time etc all publish figures, which is the main reason they appear on shortlists next to agencies that quote. Moneypenny publishes US pricing and quotes for the UK. AssistBPO publishes a rate card and returns a staffing plan within one business day instead. A published figure is useful for sizing, but it is not the same as a quote for your actual scope.
Can any of these do bookkeeping as well as PA work?
Designated PA publishes accountancy and bookkeeping next to its PA services. AVirtual lists bookkeeping support, SmartPA lists finance administration and AssistBPO staffs bookkeeping assistants inside Xero or QuickBooks Online on its back-office desk. In every case check what the person is allowed to do: assistants prepare, reconcile and chase, while filing and sign-off stay with a qualified accountant. Ask for that split in writing before the first month closes.
How was this list compiled?
We list UK business support providers that publish enough on their own sites to be compared on model, price, hours, telephone cover and continuity, and every figure carries the month it was checked. Where a provider publishes nothing, the entry says not published. There are no rankings, ratings or reviews on this page. AssistBPO is listed first because this is our site, not because it is the right answer for every reader.
Sources
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