Contractors to benefit from Budget 2015, say experts
Contractors will mostly benefit from the measures announced by Chancellor George Osborne in his 2015 Budget. A range of measures including flexible and Help to Buy ISAs, tax breaks for the oil and gas sector and infrastructure improvements will improve contractor finances and prospects. The feared changes to expenses tax relief rules for umbrella and limited company contractors did not materialise. Instead, a consultation is planned with no changes are likely until at least 2016. More...
Contractors to be kept in the dark about the IR35 Forum’s workings, reveal minutes
Contractors look set to find out even less about matters that fundamentally affect them being discussed in the IR35 Forum. The most recent set of minutes for the 5 November 2014 meeting, which have been published over four months after it was held, show that forum members agreed to reduce the amount of detail each report contains. Considering the latest set of minutes revealed little of what the forum actually discussed and agreed, it seems like this is a deliberate strategy by HMRC to keep contractors in the dark. More...
IT and financial contractors should look to the City for new contracts
IT and financial contractors should be targeting London’s financial sector for new contracts, as the City has experienced a hiring boom in the opening months of 2015. Morgan McKinley’s London Employment Monitor March 2015 showed that new contract and job opportunities increased by 100% when compared to December 2014, and that there were 21% more opportunities compared to January 2014. “Demand for strong candidates, particularly in the regulatory space, continues to outstrip supply,” explains Morgan McKinley Financial Services operations director Hakan Enver. “Morgan McKinley…is seeing reported increases in demand for IT professionals, on both a contract and permanent basis.” More...
Interim management contractors seeking contracts should target the private sector
Interim management contractors seeking their next new contract should focus on the private sector, which is where contract growth was found at the end of 2014. The Interim Management Association’s (IMA) Ipsos MORI survey for the final quarter of 2014 shows a 5% year-on-year increase in overall assignments and the public sector share falling to 33%. “These are positive trends for the interim management sector, and evidence of the industry seeing increased demand from clients,” notes IMA chairman Simon Drake. “Equally, we are seeing more and more assignments coming in from the private sector, which saw the highest number since the survey started in 2006.” More...
Contractors across different sectors experiencing mixed prospects in Scotland
Contractors based in Scotland are experiencing a softening of the contract market for a second consecutive month, and the outlook is becoming increasingly polarised across different sectors. Those struggling to find contracts in the financial sector may wish to consider looking across the wider UK, where no such slowdown is occurring. In contrast, Dundee’s video gaming market is buoyant, and skilled IT contractors are in short supply. More...
Self-employed contractor numbers remain at near record highs, despite quarterly fall
The number of self-employed contractors was 4.526m in the quarter to the end of January 2015. Whilst the latest Labour Market Statistics from the Office for National Statistics showed a fall of 9,000 when compared to the previous quarter, year-on-year the figure is up by 33,000. Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed (IPSE) chief executive Chris Bryce explains: “More and more people are waking up to the benefits of self-employment and opting to become their own boss. Today’s figures show the number of the UK’s self-employed continues to rise.” More...
Contracting sector’s growth is structural, says a Bank of England report
The growth of the UK’s flexible workforce and the contracting sector is a structural change in the labour force. This is according to a new report by the Bank of England. The report also highlights that, whilst there is some increase in self-employment due to economic cycles, the recession was not the cause of the huge increases seen in recent years. “We welcome the report from the Bank of England that confirms the boom in self-employment reflects a structural change to the economy and adds to the mounting evidence that the rise in self-employment is the continuation of long term shifts in the labour market,” says Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed (IPSE) director of policy and external affairs, Simon McVicker. More...
Construction contractor prospects look positive for 2015 across most of the industry
Construction contractors could be in for a bumper year across most of the construction sector. Savills Commercial Development Activity report for February 2015 shows construction activity continued to grow for the thirteenth consecutive month. The only sector not to experience an increase in contract numbers was the public retail and leisure activity category. Private commercial work and industrial/warehouse are where contractors should focus their efforts, as these sectors are growing particularly strongly. More...
Contractor agencies could find it earlier to trade across Europe following EU ruling
Contractor agencies may find it easier to operate across the whole of the European Union (EU) following a European Union Court of Justice ruling. The Recruiter reports that the EU CoJ: “Has ruled this week that member states must remove unjustified restrictions on the use of temporary agency work.” This could be the first step in removing many of the restrictions that prevent contractors from easily working across the EU without having to change from their UK-based agency. More...
Contractor and temp management conference secures False Self-Employment speaker
The 5th Annual Temporary & Contract Workforce Conference has secured a speaker to discuss the implications of the False Self-Employment legislation. Fiona Coombe, director of legal and regulatory research at Staffing Industry Analysts will join other experts at the event to discuss a range of legal issues, including employment intermediaries. The conference is shaping up to become one of the year’s highlights for contractor clients and agencies seeking solutions to their contingent workforce challenges. More...