Office designed to have a calming feel and to test the theory that plants in an office have been proven to increase productivity by 15%.
umbrella Articles
marketing | 3 August 2015
/ / / /marketing | 21 July 2015
/ / /We are pleased to report that Micaela Blackshaw, Team Leader at Umbrella Accountants has made the national shortlist for Trainee of the Year at the Practice Excellence Awards.
marketing | 10 July 2015
/ / / /Following George Osborne’s Budget speech there’s been a lot of conjecture and analysis of what the changes will mean for the contracting industry. Now that the dust has settled and the numbers have been crunched, there’s no getting away from the truth of the matter – it’s not good news, despite the excitement of Ian Duncan Smith. However, it’s certainly not all doom and gloom and changes to how contractors are taxed won’t diminish the growing demand for their skills.
marketing | 3 July 2015
/ / / /Umbrella Accountants are delighted to report that having hit some pretty tight objectives and demonstrated the relevant abilities and attitude to their work we have promoted a number of staff members in the last week.
As a result of these promotions we are looking to bring in two Assistant Accountants. If you know someone who has just completed an accounting degree or are currently studying their AAT then put them in touch with Neil Armitage the Operations Director neil.armitage@umbrella.co.uk for a chance to work somewhere where hard work and the right attitude pays off.
marketing | 26 June 2015
/ / / / /If you’ve taken a taxi recently, there’s a high chance it might have been an Uber car. One of the most impactful start-ups in recent years, a hidden fact behind Uber’s inexorable rise has been its total reliance on contractors. There are something like permanent 2,000 employees on the Uber payroll, compared to nearly 160,000 contractors.
So what can the Uber example tell us about contracting in the 21st century economy? Umbrella’s Operations Director Neil Armitage gave us his thoughts: “Uber is a really specific example of an ‘on-demand’ style of business. They can recruit contractors in waves as and when. Drivers, tech experts and back office staff. That suits their business model, so it is a somewhat nuanced example.”
marketing | 28 July 2015
/ / /IT security is big business. With cyber attacks costing companies an eye-watering $445bn globally last year, and new UK and EU privacy regulations coming into force, organisations of all sizes are finally taking steps to protect their data and intellectual property.
This new-found sense of urgency is creating an unprecedented number of opportunities for those with expertise in the field. Indeed, recruitment firm Stott and May has reported that cyber security professionals are “currently in incredibly high demand – and accordingly in limited supply.”
marketing | 20 July 2015
/ / / / /On Friday HMRC released the discussion document inviting contributions from the industry on how best to police the murky area of disguised employment.
At first glance the consultation seems conflicted proposing two equally unsatisfactory options and then asks for someone else to come up with the magic solution for this thorny issue.
Perhaps the most concerning element of the document can be found on page 8 where it is suggested that the engaging party rather than the PSC be held responsible for the deduction of TAX and NI exactly as they would for a normal employee. Based on how open to interpretation the current legislation is and how few successful cases HMRC bring against contractors it is surely unfair to expect the engager in these circumstances to make that decision and then enforce it onto a supplier that they want to keep on side.
marketing | 8 July 2015
/ / / / / /A review of today’s Summer Budget (8th July 2015) highlights the following key points that could affect Umbrella Company workers or contractors/freelancers who operate through their own limited company :
Personal tax
Employment intermediaries and tax relief for travel and subsistence – As announced at March Budget 2015, the government has published a consultation document alongside the Summer Budget on detailed proposals to restrict tax relief for travel and subsistence for workers engaged through an employment intermediary, such as an umbrella company or a personal service company. The changes will take effect from 6 April 2016. (Finance Bill 2016)
IR35 reform – The government will engage with stakeholders this year on how to improve the effectiveness of existing intermediaries legislation (‘IR35’) which is designed to protect against disguised employment. A discussion document will be published after Summer Budget 2015.
marketing | 29 June 2015
/ / /Dotted around the recent Queen’s Speech, eagle-eyed commentators picked out certain areas that could be of benefit to the UK’s contracting community. In particular the issue of taxation captured attention
marketing | 25 June 2015
/ / / /The UK’s improving financial performance has been helped, in a large way, by contractors. That is one of the conclusions offered in the RSA’s (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufacture and Commerce) recent report on how small business benefits the UK’s economy.
Small businesses, the rise of the self-employed and the role of contractors were all factors in driving UK productivity and righting the titling ship in a post-2008 Britain.
Umbrella’s Louise Sayers had this to say on the report’s findings: “Well at Umbrella HQ we are often singing the praises of contractors, so this report chimes perfectly with that! Its just further affirmation of the positive role contractors play in our economy bouncing back and improving year on year.”
