Contractors Articles

Are you wondering why there are rainbows popping up in windows around your local area too?

With social distancing and restrictions due to coronavirus, children are connecting with each other by creating colourful rainbows and displaying them in their windows for passers-by to see and to spread hope and cheer.

It is thought this rainbow display trend began in Italy, but has quickly caught on in other countries.

Umbrella.co.uk have of course been putting together comprehensive plans to ensure that we are fully prepared for whatever the next few months brings.  

The planning has considered all key parts of our business.  We consider these to be:

1. ​Business partner relationship management
2. New business consultation and registration
3. Contracting with and onboarding of new clients
4. Submission of timesheets and expenses
5. Payroll
6. Customer service

​We obviously hope that the situation is unlikely and will not occur but, should the worst happen and significant numbers of staff are unable to attend the office, we are 100% confident that we will be able to maintain all the above processes with minimal disruption.

• We have identified key staff who will manage business critical activity in all areas.  We will adapt to any given circumstances and flexibility exists for the key staff to either work from the office or from home with equal efficiency.

• We are confident that we would not lose any capability to support and pay our contractor employees.  Our confidence is borne from the fact that all of our major softwares which are intrinsic to processes are web-based and can therefore be accessed from anywhere.  Those that sit on our internal servers would be available via VPN connections.  Our external IT administrators have provided sufficient hardware capacity for multiple staff to be accessing the servers via VPN simultaneously.  Mobile equipment for staff remote working is already in place and tested. 

• Our telephone system is also web-based and all key staff will have access to it via their mobile phones using a SWiP app.  This means that inbound calls can be taken on staff mobiles wherever they are, without the caller even being aware that the call has been re-routed.  Routing calls through our server also allows us to maintain our practice of recording all in and outbound calls.

"Please be assured that we are confident of maintaining ‘business as usual’ as best we can.  We are not however complacent and will continue to monitor developments to ensure we can react quickly.  Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions" - Nick Holmes, CEO

Britain officially left the European Union on January 31st, but a transition period remains in place until the end of December 2020.

During this transition period, British people can continue to live and work in the EU without restriction.

Some of the nation’s largest banks are forcing personal service company (PSC) contractors to go on the payroll, a move that will leave many with dormant limited companies. Here’s how you could close your PSC in a tax efficient manner if you’re affected by the banking sector contractor ban.

Under reforms to off-payroll working legislation, large organisations will be made responsible for judging a PSC contractor’s IR35 status from 6^th April 2020.