How quickly the months roll around, the first quarter seemed to just disappear with minimal upset for most umbrella companies (there were a couple of exceptions). There was a budget with no nasty surprises which is always a welcome change, although it has left the umbrella company industry as a whole with very little to wring it’s hands and worry loudly about, good news for you because you don’t have to listen to it, but bad news for anyone like myself trying to write something interesting.
It’s an unusual industry that’s for sure, and certainly not one for anyone with a weak heart; the sudden pace changes can be quite unsettling at times. You can be moving along smoothly, everything going to plan and suddenly it all gets interesting (as in the curse), you might say that’s true for many industries, but few rely on so many different people or companies working together to such a close schedule.
It can be something as simple as payments not coming in on time and having to make arrangements for the people expecting to be paid; or something longer term like a change to the legislation or a consultation or the occasional audit (even if it’s voluntary), whatever happens it is always a shake from the norm. It’s how you cope with it and get on with things that counts, after all it’s what we’re here for.
Umbrella companies aren’t just in the business of making you as much money as possible, if they were the system would probably fall to pieces. Part of their attention must be on smoothing out any problems, resolving issues, and making sure things are done correctly, if it’s not they are putting their contractors at risk, of at best non-payment and at worst an unexpected tax bill from HMRC. Some people will see that as just bad business, but as an employer they have a duty of care that really shouldn’t be ignored.
The two most important skills for running an umbrella company today have to be flexibility and a healthy amount of caution (you also need the right advisors but that’s all a matter of knowing the right people and being able to afford them). The big companies have both in abundance, and that’s the reason they are still around. With the focus nowadays so much on compliance (and rightly so) playing it fast and loose will just get you into trouble, and who wants that?
Tom Trinder is the Web Manager at Gabem Management
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