Umbrella Company Articles

The team at Umbrella have skipped over the finish line and raised a whopping £4,540 for Cancer Research UK.

The teams at Umbrella have skipped over the finish line and raised a whopping £1,539.10 for Cancer Research UK.

Umbrella.co.uk signed up to the February 2023 Cancer Research UK Skipping Challenge. Our teams completed the 100 skips a day with wild enthusiasm to raise vital funds for life-saving cancer research.

Early retirees urged to return to work force

Reports suggest that the Government is planning to lure retired middle-aged workers back to the workplace to help boost the economy. 

In recent months, problems like inflation have been intensified by low levels of economic activity amongst some working-age people.

Some umbrella contractors missing out on £3,000+ holiday pay

New figures suggest that dodgy umbrella companies could be costing thousands of temporary workers through lost holiday pay. 

Freelance support group IWORK calculated that at an average salary of £26,000 per year, umbrella workers would be missing out on more than £3,000 of holiday pay.

They estimate that if just 2% of the UK’s 1.6 million temps are affected, they would be shortchanged by a collective £97 million per year.

How to close your limited company

Following changes to off-payroll working rules and the end of a 12-month ‘light-touch’ enforcement period, many contractors are finding it increasingly difficult to operate ‘outside IR35’ through a limited company.

Some contractors are now at risk of being permanently locked into high tax, low benefit ‘inside IR35’ arrangements.

UK workers seek out extra casual work

Jobs website Indeed has reported a significant increase in the number of workers seeking out additional part time and casual work to cope with the cost of living crisis.

The recruitment platform found that searches for ‘weekend only’ work and ‘night shift part-time’ jobs were up 120% and 110% respectively in the three months to January 2023.

The data also showed a surge in searches for low-skilled jobs, with searches for 'warehouse part-time' increasing by 252% and 'retail part-time' increasing by 124%.

Apprenticeship Levy under fire from employers

Employers and HR bodies have called for urgent reform of the Apprenticeship Levy. Some critics say the current system is inflexible and inaccessible, while others complain it benefits people that are already in management positions.

Tesco’s Chief Executive Ken Murphy has been particularly scathing of the scheme, which affects all large employers - including umbrella companies. 

Umbrella.co.uk Christmas Party and Staff Awards 2022

Umbrella.co.uk held its Christmas Party and annual awards on the 9th of December.  We chose a cold and snowy evening to make it very festive!  60-plus staff enjoyed a fabulous meal and drinks, followed by a period of ‘shape throwing’ on the dance floor by those who could – or at least thought they could after partaking in the bar!  The photo booth provides permanent evidence of the high jinks!

Tax warning: Stockport and Liverpool firms named by HMRC

HMRC has added three more companies to its list of ‘named tax avoidance schemes, promoters, enablers and suppliers’ and two of them have offices in the North West of England.

Self-employed workers vulnerable to financial shocks
marketing | 21 April 2022
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New research shows that many self-employed workers are highly vulnerable to financial shocks.

A survey of more than 2,000 self-employed workers in the UK found that many don’t have a reliable source of income or a safety net in case something goes wrong. 

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