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. This 3.7% figure quoted by the global technology research giant Gartner is far better than many industry experts had projected – and will see budgets increase across all of the four major technology sectors - computer hardware, telecoms equipment and services, IT services and enterprise software. For IT contractors that work through umbrella companies, that really equates to more opportunities to sell their IT skills within the marketplace!

At the same time, IT umbrella contractors also received good news in the form of an announcement by the UK Treasury, after a meeting between The Rt. Hon. George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer and Norman Chan, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA). The announcement revealed that closer links are being forged with the HKMA to promote ‘closer collaboration’ between the UK and the Chinese Government. This is good news for finance IT contractors who operate through umbrella companies as London could well become an offshore trading centre for the renminbi (RMB) – the Chinese currency. If London gains offshore trading status, umbrella IT contractors could suddenly be in very demand, as thousands of new contracts and £1bn of new business will be created.