News Article List

22nd February 2012

We noticed with interest that the REC’s Director of Policy Tom Hadley is due to met with new Employment Minister Norman Lamb in the near future, when he plans to address the issue of the UK’s ‘near-obsession with red tape’ that negatively impacts umbrella contractors.

With previous Employment Minister Ed Davey taking up Chris Huhne’s recently-vacated role as Energy and Climate Change minister, Norman Lamb steps into the employment fray - and Tom Hadley will be quick to make his views known, capitalising on the opportunity to benefit both recruiters and umbrella contractors.

20th February 2012

We were pleased to see this week that recently released figures from the temporary labour supplier de Poel have revealed that the number of non-permanent staff hired rose by 13% in January 2012. The biggest increase was in the manufacturing sector, with a 35% rise, followed by business services at 33%. Increases of 19% and 13% were also seen in the care sector and construction industry respectively.

17th February 2012

According to the January UK Services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) from Markit/Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS), UK Service Sector growth increased in the survey’s history, putting the Index at its highest level for 10 months. Described by the report as the ‘single largest monthly improvement in business optimism in the history of the survey’, the figures are certainly good news for contractors who work through umbrella companies in the UK service sector. This rise was described as the ‘strongest in just under four years’ of the survey’s history.

15th February 2012

According to the latest Report on Jobs from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC)/KPMG, demand for contractors rose again in January 2012, with a rise that was the strongest since May 2011. Hourly rates of pay for contract staff also increased modestly, which is good news after a slight decrease in December. However, it was also identified that billings from umbrella contractor agencies decreased slightly for the second month running – but this could actually be good news for contractors.

13th February 2012

Umbrella contractors that have clients in export and manufacturing sectors will be pleased to see December’s UK Trade figures and the Index of Production which have been published by the Office for National Statistics. These figures show that manufacturing output increased by 2.1% in December 2011 when compared to the same month the previous year. At the same time, the ‘balance of trade deficit’ in the UK has decreased to its lowest level since April 2003. This is seen as being due to increased exports of both services and goods.

10th February 2012

Exciting figures from the Monster Employment Index in December show that online demand for IT staff increased by 17% overall during last year, with the Index hitting a six month high. All of which makes great reading for the UK’s IT contractors who work through umbrella companies. It’s a positive increase across the board, with the Monster Employment Index growing by 0.7% overall in December, thanks to the IT sector’s growth. In fact, some sectors saw as much as 28% growth in the same period!

8th February 2012

New research from top recruiter Manpower has identified umbrella contractors as a key part of future global development, citing them as ‘a core component of the contingent workforce’ which will help companies to succeed in the ‘human age’. These research findings were presented at the World Economic Forum (WEF) by Jeff Joerres, Manpower’s Group Chairman and CEO.

6th February 2012

A new Executive Survey from EEF, ‘the most powerful force backing UK manufacturing’, has shown that the manufacturing sector as a whole is moving at two different speeds, making it clear that umbrella contractors who work in this vital sector must target the right businesses for their next opportunity. Electronics and metals should be avoided, as these areas are not performing as well, whereas manufacturing firms within the rubber and chemicals, transport or mechanical equipment sectors were definitely on the up and up during the latter half of 2011.

3rd February 2012

UK oil and gas contractors working through umbrella companies have some excellent news in the pipeline, with recent drilling successes being announced in the Falkland Islands. In fact, industry experts have said that around  8.3 billion barrels will come from the Falkland Islands’ waters in 2012, a figure that is three times the UK reserves. One of the three wells around the islands has been ranked as ‘among the world’s top 15 offshore prospects this year’ by Morgan Stanley, with Evan Calio, one of their analysts, commenting that “The area is underexplored and highly prospective.

1st February 2012

The REC’s latest monthly JobsOutlook report showed a positive trend for umbrella contractors, with 27% of employers intending to expand their non-permanent staff, and 57% planning to keep levels the same - making 84% on total who are not planning any reductions in their flexible working arrangements. In the same survey, we noted that the number of people surveyed who plan to increase their permanent workforce fell by 2% on the previous month!

30th January 2012

New figures released this week by Jobsadwatch made very interesting reading for IT umbrella contractors, with over 25% more IT contracts becoming available in the last quarter of 2011 when compared to the same time frame in 2010. Financial institutions and software development houses led the way in this growth, showing a 5.1% increase when compared to Q3 of 2011. So when you compare this to the same figures for permanent staff 0 with demand growing at just 1.5% it’s easy to see why contractors who work through umbrella companies have reason to be optimistic for 2012.

27th January 2012

Gartner’s latest projections made positive reading for IT umbrella contractors this week – with predictions of a worldwide increase in spending on IT of 3.7% during 2012. That might not sound like much, but in real terms it would mean worldwide IT spending rising to £2.45 trillion during the year, as organisations invest in new technologies to help them achieve much-needed business growth.

25th January 2012

We were pleased to see the recent announcement from Hewlett Packard that it has confirmed a 50% increase in the number of small IT firms and contractors that it plans to sub-contract work to – something which will come as welcome news for umbrella IT contractors across the UK. HP is the Government’s largest IT contractor, and until now it has sub-contracted public sector work to around 600 smaller IT companies and individuals, including contractors who work through umbrella companies.

23rd January 2012

We read new predictions by accountancy firm Deloitte with interest this week. According to the firm, large organisations that spend money on ‘big data projects’ will increase that spend in 2012 to between £650 million and £1 billion. At a time when many companies are not increasing their permanent staffing levels, that could mean a serious boost for IT contractors who work through umbrella companies!

20th January 2012

There was more good news this week for umbrella contractors who work in the oil industry, especially those based in the North of England, as a large oil drilling project has been given the go-ahead. The work, which will take place between the villages of Walkington and Bishop Burton, will involve drilling one and a half miles into the Yorkshire countryside with a view to discovering a new fuel source.

18th January 2012

A new survey this week indicates that umbrella contractors who work in the financial services sector can be optimistic for 2012 - with UK business volumes forecast to reach their highest levels since June 2007 by the end of the first quarter. The 89th financial services survey, which was conducted by Confederation of British Industry (CBI)/PwC and also shows that investment in IT infrastructure is expected to rise during January, February and March.

16th January 2012

There was cause for cheer for our Scottish clients this week in light of the December Bank of Scotland Report on Jobs – which clearly shows that umbrella contractors working in IT and engineering have nothing to worry about this year. Contractors who operate through umbrella companies will be heartened by the figures, which show that Scotland is outperforming the UK – and as the report confirms, Scotland has ‘strong IT and robust engineering contractor demand’ which has kept it in positive growth during the last quarter of 2011.

13th January 2012

There was good news for umbrella contractors in the engineering and service sectors this month, as both demonstrated significant growth in the most recent Markit/Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) Purchasing Managers Index. The engineering sector - which is divided into the three categories of housing, civil engineering and commercial – grew across the board, the first time this has happened  since Spring 2011. The index also showed that activity in December in the service sector was at its highest level since mid 2011.

12th January 2012

We read with interest the latest Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) report which came out this week. According to the report, 75% of UK organisations are experiencing difficulty filling vacancies and 72% stated that this is principally caused by a lack of specialist skills - highlighting a huge opportunity for contractors who work through an umbrella company. The report, which is considered to be a ‘barometer’ of HR prospects and trends, also found that management, technical and professional positions are proving to be the most difficult to fill.

11th January 2012

ContractorUmbrella Ltd has emerged as outright winners of the ‘Best Umbrella Company’ category in the industry renowned reader’s awards, hosted by ContractorUK, the UK’s largest contractor website.

Thousands of visitor’s flock to ContractorUK’s website everyday and they have picked ContractorUmbrella, a previous winner of the award, as the umbrella company that surpasses all others.

10th January 2012

Recent comments by Universities and Science Minister David Willetts made exciting reading this week. In a recent speech he announced expansion in the UK’s science and engineering base, which will provide new opportunities for since and technology based umbrella contractors well into the decade!

6th January 2012

We were very interested to see that the REC’s JobsOutlook figures show that 52% of employers plan to maintain their non-permanent staffing levels, are almost a third of those surveyed are aiming to increase levels - 9% more than the same time last year. Great news for contractors who operate through umbrella companies.

4th January 2012

The 2012 ‘predictions’ have begun, and we found the one from The Centre for Retail Research especially interesting! According to The Centre, by 2015 at least 25% of all online purchases will be made using mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones, which is great news for umbrella contractors with specialist skills in the m-commerce arena.

3rd January 2012

The end of year figures roundup was particularly good news for umbrella IT contractors this year, with peopleperhour.com, Monster and Reed Recruitment all having something positive to add! Figures from online job site peopleperhour.com, which came out in mid December, showed a 612% increase across the board in UK businesses hiring IT contractors. Breaking this down, e-commerce, IT support and web programming specialists were some of the most sought after, with demand increasing by 105%, 95% and 70% respectively.

22nd December 2011

We were applauding a new initiative from the REC this week, which seeks to make those working in Government more aware of how flexible workers such as umbrella contractors can help the UK economy in 2012 and beyond! The new Flexible Work Commission which has been launched by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation has been designed to highlight the benefit of ‘skilled flexible workers’ to people working within Government, so that they can more fully understand how these workers can add benefit for employers across the UK.

21st December 2011

A new report from JM Digital made interesting reading this week – as it showed that umbrella IT contractors with skills in the digital arena are still extremely highly sought after, especially by the financial sector! The Q4 2011 market report, which came from the recruitment division of the JM Group, also found that day rates for digital contractors have also increased, as banks in particular are happy to pay as much as 25% more for the right umbrella contractor than a digital agency would do, for someone of the same skill level.

19th December 2011

We were pleased to note that he most recent Monster Employment Index (MEI) has shown that online demand for both IT and engineering skills increased in November and also showed significant year on year demand. IT contractors working through umbrella companies saw an increase in demand for their skills of 25%, whilst engineering skills were the most highly sought after, with an increase of 32% since the same month last year. These figures clearly show that despite the ongoing uncertainly at an overall level, core contracting disciplines are, as ever, still performing well.

16th December 2011

Companies seek umbrella contractors with cloud computing skills We read with interest this week the results of a new survey by IT recruitment firm Modis International which indicated that IT umbrella contractors in the cloud computing field will be in high demand over the coming months. The poll, which surveyed 250 IT decisionmakers, found that many think the role of the IT professional has changed in the last year and will continue to do so over the coming 12 months.

15th December 2011

IT contractor John Spencer is left with a tax bill for £141,000 following a four year IR35 battle with HMR&C. Read more on the case here - http://www.contractorumbrella.com/jlj_services_vs_hmrc.html

14th December 2011

FSB survey shows new avenue of opportunity for umbrella contractors New figures this week from The Federation of Small Businesses made interesting reading we thought! According to the FSB, it's not just large established businesses that will be using umbrella contractors in the future, but also new start-ups as well.

Pages