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How Audr Cut £242,000 in Costs and Hired Developers in an Average of 23 Days Each
UK SaaS startup Audr scaled their product team with proactive offshore developers.
Here’s how LevelUp made it happen.
How Audr Cut £242,000 in Costs and Hired Developers in an Average of 23 Days Each
UK SaaS startup Audr scaled their product team with proactive offshore developers in the Philippines.
Here’s how LevelUp made it happen.
Meet Audr
Client: Audr
Industry: AI & Software Development
Company Size: ~20 employees
Business Model: SaaS
Location: Remote, UK-based
Past Offshoring Experience:
Yes (India, Poland, Eastern Europe)
Client: Audr
Industry: AI & Software Development
Company Size: ~20 employees
Business Model: SaaS
Location: Remote, UK-based
Past Offshoring Experience:
Yes (India, Poland, Eastern Europe)
Why they chose LevelUp:
“People have a perception about offshoring where they don’t think the quality is there or that they’ll be some kind of cultural barrier or language barrier and timezone issues. But when you look at the Filipino Culture, there’s no language barrier and the level of English is phenomenal and culturally they’re super easy to get along with”
The Challenge: Building a Team Without Breaking the Bank
Audr is a fast-scaling UK startup building an AI powered knowledge base for CEOs with a mobile app.
They aren’t new to the offshore hiring game. In fact, they have worked with teams in India, Poland, and other Eastern European countries.
So from the outset, Audr knew offshoring was the way forward. They were never skeptical about it. But they were determined to find the right country and the right partner. Their priorities were:
01
Talent quality
Developers who were proactive thinkers, not just task executors.
02
Hiring costs
UK-based salaries plus recruiter fees would send costs through the roof.
03
Speed and risk
As a startup, slow hiring or upfront commitments with vendors weren't an option.
This was also the first software development team LevelUp had ever built, which could have caused hesitation. But instead of walking away, Audr leaned in, intrigued by our no-risk, no-upfront model that shifted the burden onto us.
“It’s great for me as the client, but it’s a risk for LevelUp.”
Audr’s challenge wasn’t simply hiring developers. It was securing a partner who could deliver cost-efficient, high-quality talent with strong cultural alignment, all without slowing them down or locking them into risky contracts.
“All of this is so new, it’s not like you can copy someone else so there’s a lot of research and development work where we’re trying stuff out and seeing how it works.”
The LevelUp Solution
Audr partnered with LevelUp to build their tech team.
No upfront recruitment costs
No obligation to hire
Transparent pricing
Our model completely de-risked the process: sourcing, screening, and presenting candidates without demanding a financial commitment. Plus, they loved our CEO’s straight-talking, honest approach. This gave Audr confidence that they were working with a partner invested in the outcome.
“LevelUp completely de-risked the decision to go with them by not charging upfront recruitment fees.”
Since then, Audr has not only built a team of five offshore developers but also enjoyed the ongoing high-touch service that LevelUp continues to deliver, including same-day support whenever needed.
Results That Speak for Themselves
£242,378/yr savings
compared to hiring the same team in the UK (including NI and pension).
£70,000 saved
saved in recruiter fees (0% recruitment charges).
23.4 days
average time-to-hire per developer.
330 CVs screened, 81 interviews conducted
100+ recruiter hours saved.
5 developers
embedded developers onboarded.
Seamless integration
Seamless HR, payroll, and compliance handled by LevelUp.
Results That Speak for Themselves
Detailed Results
We built a team of 5 full stack software developers which are fully embedded into Audr.
Salary Savings
£242,378 per year (calculated against the average UK dev salary incl. NI + pension vs LevelUp’s rate).
Upfront Recruitment Fees Paid: £0.
LevelUp spent 100+ hours screening CVs and doing initial interviews before endorsing candidates to Audr. All at no extra upfront cost and without any commitment from Audr. We only ask you to commit when we find the right candidate for you.
Cost Savings
Time/Cost Savings in Recruitment
If an external recruiter was hired in the UK to build 5 roles, the cost would have been approx. £70,000 (20% of salary). Hiring an internal recruiter would add even more overhead.
We did all of the above without any downpayment or commitment, because we know offshore hiring can feel risky and we do what we can to de-risk it.
Average time to hire
23.4 days per employee.
Payroll, Legal, and HR Savings
Eliminated internal recruiter and admin costs.
Business Impact
Audr built a mobile app, which is the main interface into everything and translating how humans speak and how databases work.
The Human Impact: More Than Just Savings
The Human Impact: More Than Just Savings
What Audr gained beyond savings:
What Audr gained beyond savings:
Time back
As a startup, they don’t want to have to deal with any of the HR stuff because it’s extra work for them. Aside from the cost saving, if they were to hire locally in London, they would still have to take care of HR and payroll so there’s a significant time saving there.
Peace of mind
They get personal service, fast responses, and honest conversations. Our team is available for same-day meetings whenever needed.
Cultural alignment
There’s zero language barrier. English fluency is high and culturally, Filipino professionals are easy to work with, collaborative, and proactive.
Trusted partnership
They know we’re honest, straightforward, and not here to oversell.
Time back
As a startup, they don’t want to have to deal with any of the HR stuff because it’s extra work for them. Aside from the cost saving, if they were to hire locally in London, they would still have to take care of HR and payroll so there’s a significant time saving there.
Peace of mind
They get personal service, fast responses, and honest conversations. Our team is available for same-day meetings whenever needed.
Cultural alignment
There’s zero language barrier. English fluency is high and culturally, Filipino professionals are easy to work with, collaborative, and proactive.
Trusted partnership
They know we’re honest, straightforward, and not here to oversell.
They even considered another offshore hiring company, but chose us because we didn’t ask for any upfront recruitment fees and de-risked the entire process by recruiting before asking for any commitment.
“As a startup, I don’t want to have to deal with any of the HR and payroll tasks stuff so LevelUp completely takes care of that and there’s a significant time saving there”
What the Client Says
❝
Scott
CTO at Audr.
LevelUp has done a fantastic job.
We would recommend them because they’ve been really honest with us. We’ve had really high quality candidates and they’re very quick to get candidates to us and they’re really helpful in terms of advice on local laws and culture. LevelUp just knows all of this.
Ready to scale smarter, like Audr?
Ready to scale smarter, like Audr?
Why LevelUp
We’re not a recruiter. We’re not an agency. And we’re not a marketplace sending you whoever’s available. We’re an Employer of Record based in Manila, Philippines. Since 2017, we’ve helped businesses build long-term offshore teams through a process built on structure, clarity, and support.
We started as a WordPress technical support team. But as our clients grew, they asked us to help them fill other roles, from support to marketing and operations. So we built a system that could deliver quality talent consistently across functions.
Why LevelUp
We’re not a recruiter. We’re not an agency. And we’re not a marketplace sending you whoever’s available. We’re an Employer of Record based in Manila, Philippines. Since 2017, we’ve helped businesses build long-term offshore teams through a process built on structure, clarity, and support.
We started as a WordPress technical support team. But as our clients grew, they asked us to help them fill other roles, from support to marketing and operations. So we built a system that could deliver quality talent consistently across functions.
Build Your Offshore Team with LevelUp
Let’s talk about your hiring goals.
Build Your Offshore Team with LevelUp
Let’s talk about your hiring goals.
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