The Effect of UK Visa Restrictions on British Business

The Highly Skilled Migrant Programme and its subsequent points-based replacement, the Tier 1 (General), has always provided a route for UK businesses to access the best international talent.

However, on 23rd November 2010, Home Secretary Theresa May announced that the Tier 1 (General) route will be closed effective of April 2011 in an attempt to place a limit on non-EU economic migration to the UK. A temporary cap is already in place. Replacing the Tier 1 is the ‘Exceptional Talent’ Visa, which will provide space for just 1000 individuals from a Science, Cultural or Sporting background, unlikely to stretch to Accountancy or Finance. The next best option for skilled overseas candidates is to apply for a Tier 2 Visa which will require them to gain sponsorship and a job offer from a UK company, or the Tier 5 which will limit their stay to 2 years. Even then Tier 2 Visas have been limited to 20,700 places per year themselves.

Many critics believe that these kinds of restrictions are particularly harmful when the state of the UK economy is still vulnerable and skills shortages are very much apparent. Businesses are particularly worried about losing key staff due to difficulties renewing their visas. A recent survey from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and KPMG revealed that 17 per cent of UK employers have been unable to recruit non-EU migrant workers due to the temporary UK immigration cap. According to these figures, more than 52 per cent of the people moving to the UK with visas came from outside the EU.

The cap will have differing implications. Multinational institutions will find some peace of mind in that there are no restrictions imposed on intercompany transfers. Smaller companies and many public sector institutions such as the NHS, with 30% of their workforce born overseas, will not find this a possibility. Universities may have to cut jobs due to a fall in international enrolments and loss in fees. Monash University had to cut 300 academic jobs on the back of changes in immigration regulation in Australia in late 2010. Companies with sponsorship certificates set aside will sees these cut which may be detrimental with the proliferation of BRIC economies and greater emerging market talent.

Recruitment companies will be increasingly required to supply outstanding candidates as the demand for migrant workers increases and supply invariably drops. Certain finance contract markets such as Product Control, which is characterised by a high turnover of international professionals in particular, may see a rise in rates in order to secure international contractors from a smaller pool of talent. In general, agencies will need to keep better track of highly-skilled candidates, not just from abroad but from home as well.

Restrictions are likely to free up more jobs for British Citizens, but will this be at the cost of sourcing the best candidate for the job?



Craig Klessa is a Consultant for Product Control at Marks Sattin.

Reaching the Top is all in the Maths

Finance is fast becoming the route to the top – that’s the clear message from the findings of our annual FTSE 100 CEO Tracker. Over the past 4 years, we have been looking at the career progression of serving Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) within the FTSE 100 Index. This year, the findings reveal that nearly half (49 per cent) have financial backgrounds, compared to 31 per cent in 2008, indicating a stronger focus on sound financial management post-recession. 

This trend for financial leaders looks set to grow. Over the past year, six of the nine (67 per cent) appointed FTSE 100 CEOs have financial backgrounds, including Andrew Harrison of Whitbread and Nicandro Durant of British American Tobacco.

These findings suggest that as the economy continues to improve, there is increasing demand for leaders who can navigate what remains a challenging operating environment.

But let’s take a closer look. To begin with, the downturn gave the number crunchers the opportunity to shine. During this time, many finance leaders held key roles at the decision-making table, helping organisations remain as efficient, effective and profitable as possible. This allowed many finance professionals to gain prominence and demonstrate their leadership skills to the wider business.

However, the downturn might not be the only driver behind this trend. The growth of the finance leader, as with accountants, may also be attributed to an increasingly stricter regulatory environment. No company likes surprises, so a greater part of a CEO’s remit is taking ultimate responsibility for regulatory issues, which were not as stringent a few years ago – a role much more suited to someone with past experience of technical accounting and finance. Furthermore, it can be reassuring, especially to shareholders, to have a leader with a core finance background who understands and can address these issues.

It is not only their fiscal skills that have made finance professionals more crucial to a company’s performance, but also their strategic insight and the communication of that to internal and external stakeholders. Commercial skills, including an understanding of how the wider business operates as well as its strategy and vision, are becoming increasingly important to a finance professional, with the finance function emerging from the backrooms and into the boardrooms.

Increasingly, CEO figures are taking a more collaborative approach and are first turning to the finance department – among others – before making any important, strategic decisions. Previously under-valued, traditionally back-office functions are becoming more important to the day-to-day running of an organisation. As a result, finance professionals have a new-found power in the business world; no longer is their role perceived as a matter of facts and figures or as the ‘go-to’ when things have already gone wrong. More and more organisations are realising how financial know-how can be a means to an end, rather than an end in itself.

Undoubtedly, a new voice is emerging from the finance function, one that has new governance and strategic responsibilities. It is more important than ever to have finance professionals capable of shouting louder about the numbers and offering real, strategic solutions to problems. For those looking to climb the career ladder, never before has the finance professional had such opportunity to stand out from the crowd.



Phil Sheridan is the managing director for Robert Half International’s UK operations where he is responsible for leading the organisation’s strategy and direction across more than 20 office locations. He is a member of numerous professional and accounting associations where he participates on steering committees and groups.

Is 2011 the Year of Eurozone Recovery?

Two years have passed since the world’s economic output reached its low-point. It was predicted by one of the UK’s largest banks at the height of the crunch that “it would not be until early 2011 that any sign of (economic) recovery would take place”. 

However, the former Prime Minister Gordon Brown commented this week: “I sense that in the first few months of 2011 we will have a major crisis in the Euro area”. With this growing pessimism, it appears that 2011 could still be a challenging year for the banking market.

The support of “Europe’s failing economies”  presents a potentially huge problem to the banking sector on several fronts. Eurozone banks have lent great financial support to ‘prop-up’ the financially weaker economies. This unsecured lending has once again greatly over-exposed many of the large European banks, at a time when there is a growing scramble to comply with stricter capital requirements.

We can only make a calculated guess, based on patterns that emerged from the global credit crunch, as to what effect the Eurozone crisis will have in recruitment terms. Considering the crunch was centred on the financial markets, it wasn’t by any stretch the financial sector that ultimately felt the hit the worst. The jobs lost in finance were around 8% – relatively low compared to jobs lost in construction and manufacturing, which were down 27% and 17% respectively.

Gordon Brown has recently supported this prediction by suggesting that a failing Eurozone would have a wider effect than just on the banks, predicting a long-term crisis could create “an unnecessary and avoidable period of low growth and high unemployment, and diminishing living standards”. 

There is also a question mark over the expansion plans of Eurozone banks, which now might be more reluctant to take any risks. The problem in particular is that “Europe has lost ground to both the US and Asia”. Therefore the risk, with stricter Visa requirements coming into force, is that Europe will no longer be the destination of choice for highly-skilled migrants, with the continent losing candidates to the US and Asia, whose economies, for now, look more stable.

The Nationalised Irish Banks have been the subject of immediate focus the last month, although from looking at the likes of RBS and Lloyds it cannot be said that nationalisation has caused a negative impact on the recruitment needs of some of the largest Nationalised European banks. Indeed, it may be the case that any nationalised Eurozone banks are forced to increase recruitment amid restructuring plans. However, with Lord Turner commenting that the FSA may claw back the pay of failed banks bosses, it creates a danger that there may be a reluctance to take roles at the highest level of financial organisations, or indeed create a culture of over cautious decision makers that weaken the long-term competitiveness of companies in fear of taking a risk too far.

For 2011 to remain the year of recovery ultimately relies on a speedy resolution of the Eurozone crisis.



Consultant Sam Price currently works on the Banking and Capital Markets Contract Team at Marks Sattin. He places both part qualified and qualified accountants in contract positions across financial services, working with major and mid-tier investment and retail banks.

Use Interim Effectively

Despite a slight decline of 17,000 in the UK’s unemployment figures this month, with the total unemployed currently at 2.48 million, unemployment levels are still at their highest since 1994. Predictions are (or are not, depending on whose line of thinking you follow) encouraging for the long term, with the OBR forecasting an employment increase of around 900,000 by 2015; bringing us back to pre-recession levels.

However, these forecasted levels are not going to be realised overnight, and there are people who still will find themselves unemployed due to one of many potential factors. So, if you do find yourself facing the predicament of unemployment, how do you maximise your chances of getting your career back on track?

One of the biggest concerns from a potential employer’s perspective is seeing long-term inactivity on a CV. Long periods of time spent unemployed, but more significantly doing nothing, leads to questions over the individual’s drive and determination to succeed. It does not present a particularly favourable image to prospective employers. 

You need to make sure you are doing something during this time. Interim work is preferable to that show you are keeping your hand in, and it also offers the added benefit of bringing in an income. My advice would be to firstly register with a reputable agency. Meet your dedicated consultant and explain to them what you are looking for on a permanent basis, but that you are also open to the possibility of interim positions in the meantime.

One of the things to take into account when looking at interim work is the danger of ending up jumping from short-term position to short-term position, which can create a cycle that is very difficult to break. If you are considering taking on interim roles, here are my top tips on managing the transition successfully:

1.  Try to take longer-term roles, rather than a couple of weeks here and there. Maternity covers are ideal, primarily around the six-to-nine month opportunities are the ones that you really want to take. They demonstrate commitment to prospective employers and provide you the opportunity to make an impact in the organisation that you can quantify on your CV.

2.  Specialist projects are the opportunities that will really add the most value to your CV in the long term. They provide the opportunity to add to your current skill set and further develop your expertise, attracting the eye of potential employers and helping you to stand out from the crowd.

3.  Don’t take any old role for the sake of it. You still need to spend a large proportion of your day there and if you can’t tolerate it for any length of time you will move on quickly, which can reflect poorly on your CV.

4.  Demonstrate commitment. If you take on an interim role, treat it in the same way that you would a permanent one. Show the same level of focus and commitment and you stand a greater chance of seeing your contract renewed or extended, or even a permanent opportunity offered.

5.  Many more organisations are offering the temp-to-perm option at the moment. It is a good way for both parties to obtain a thorough understanding of the other prior to entering into a commitment on a permanent basis, and ideal if you are seeking a permanent position in the long term.



Dan Jones is Manager of the Accountancy & Finance Division and Head of Interim Accountancy at Alexander Lloyd, part of the South East's leading recruitment consultancy for accountants.

 

iXBRL

Avoiding tax is easier than avoiding hearing about it. During tough economic times, the headlines continue to be dominated by tax issues on a daily basis: the standard rate of VAT increasing to 20 per cent on 4 January 2011; Business Secretary, Vince Cable, choosing to float a graduate tax; £2.5bn a year levy on the banking industry in wide-ranging tax measures…to name a few.

However, there is an issue that rarely gains such front page press coverage and this is iXBRL. But is it really an issue for UK businesses?

What is iXBRL? 

XBRL (Extensible Business Reporting Language) has been in use for over 10 years and is a form of XML (Extensible Markup Language). A mark-up language is a dictionary of tags that allows a computer programme to describe the text and is a fantastic way for computers to share information. However, it is virtually illegible for humans and therefore it would be as impossible for HMRC to understand. 

The solution put in place is In-Line XBRL, which allows the production of a web page version of the financial data that both HMRC and humans are able to read and understand. Ideally, all submissions made after 31st March 2011 will be made in this format.   

Three taxonomies are applicable to XBRL:

1. CT Computation taxonomy-  1300 mandatory tags and over 4500 possible
2. IFRS taxonomy -  1600 mandatory tags and 3400 possible
3. UK GAAP accounts taxonomy – 1350 mandatory and 4375 possible

What are the implications on UK businesses?

On face value, iXBRL seems a total overhaul of the current HMRC submission process. However, in reality the effects have really seldom been felt. Most companies, particularly in the banking sector, have outsourced iXBRL tagging to accountancy firms and specialists. On the flip side, smaller tax departments have favoured sharing the workload between them in order to manage cost effectively. Realistically, iXBRL compliance will more than likely provide short-term pain in its first year of use; beyond that there will be potential for business gains to be made.

Recruitment

Initial expectations for a recruitment drive for candidates with particular skill sets in this area have not been realised. However, across the industry there continues to be a trend for more organisations bringing tax functions in-house, and coupled with the requirement for electronic tagging, the requirement for IT literacy has also increased. 

The necessity to manage costs and meet headcount quotas has given rise to broader tax positions whereby candidates are often gaining exposure to a range of tax issues. iXBRL compliance could well form a larger part of this so-called ‘ad-hoc’, which is often highlighted on job descriptions. Therefore candidates now need to be more flexible when considering new industry positions with regards to how the role will break down. Given the current position in the UK business cycle, and Chancellor George Osborne needing to decrease the budget deficit, the importance of the skillful and flexible tax professional will continue to increase. 


James Macdonald works as a Consultant in the Tax team at Marks Sattin, placing qualified accountants and qualified taxation professionals into permanent positions in the financial services sector.

The Peaks and Troughs of Hiring Management Consultants

Management consulting is often defined as a profession that provides advice in a specific area of expertise. However, another well-established view is that management consultants are people who you pay lots of money to tell you what you already know. It is clear that as the economy changes, so do public opinions, and with them, the need for consulting.

This line of work is one of the first to react to changes in the economy and following the recent drop, the second quarter recruitment figures show a sharp increase in hiring.

According to various management consulting-focussed websites, the consulting industry is steadily accelerating and has been for the most part of the year. More specifically, financial services consulting is a huge industry in its own right and the main focus for many large firms is seeing a dramatic increase in hiring; this is a prime example of the ‘peaks and troughs’ of recruitment.

Financial services topped an consultant poll as the industry leading the way in expected acceleration of hires by consultancy firms. This view is backed up by the Big Four; according to KPMG, the biggest increase in 2010 has been in their advisory functions that “have ambitious growth targets over the next two years”, whilst PwC revealed that “consulting will be a big focus for recruitment again for 2011 with  ambitious growth targets in this area”. Keeping up with the trend, Deloitte announced that they would be recruiting “predominantly in the technology and consulting area”.

Another huge indicator of the current shape of the market are the figures being announced by a number of management consultancies themselves. One specialist financial services consultancy has made over 100 new hires since March, and is in place to continue this massive growth into next year with a further 250 planned, almost doubling in size.

The explanation behind a lot of the growth in the market is mainly a simple reflection of the financial services industry and the economy as a whole. When times are hard in a struggling economy, paying someone lots of money to tell you what you already know is the first thing cut in a bid to save capital, but hiring an experienced management consultant is often the first thing done when a business looks to recover. An MD of a city-based boutique supported this idea, stating that “there’s been so much change in financial services, a lot of it government enforced, that consultants have been having a field day”.

This can be seen as a very basic indicator of market opinion on the economy, which in turn can help to form an outlook for the rest of the recruitment industry.

So, while we are experiencing uncertain financial times at the moment, with not a day going by without another headline from Vince Cable or Mervyn King, perhaps it is not all doom and gloom. 

Often the first sign of a change in fortunes, the aggressive growth acceleration of management consultancies suggests businesses and the economy are also getting ready to grow again. As a result I would now expect the recruitment industry to follow, enjoying the ride to the next peak. 



Andrew Wilde is a Consultant in the Management Consultancy team at Marks Sattin, working across a range of industries. Andrew has a strong portfolio of clients within Financial Services, placing Principals and Senior Managers in high profile Banking, Payments and Capital Markets positions.

Thames Valley recruitment leads the way to economic recovery

These past two years have been tough for the recruitment industry, as employers streamlined their companies in response to the poor economic climate. As we experience the beginnings of an upturn, those who fell victim to the job cuts look towards London for hope, with the impression that it is where they will be offered the best opportunities.

This is not necessarily the case; the Thames Valley area can offer a real alternative the bright lights of London. So why is it set to prosper?

The ‘No City Left Behind’ report, produced by The Work Foundation, focuses its research on the geography of the economic recovery, naming several Thames Valley towns and cities amongst the top 10 places likely to do well. Reading and Bracknell took the premier spot ahead of London (third), Oxford took fifth place, closely followed by Milton Keynes and Aylesbury in sixth.

Hi-tech manufacturing is easily identifiable as one of the key sectors that, alongside intermediate services, finance and creative industries, will drive the UK’s economic growth over the next two decades. Nicknamed ‘Silicon Valley’ and housing the likes of Microsoft, Oracle, Dell and Hewlett-Packard, the Thames Valley looks set to be a vital location to drive economic recovery.

Statistics published by CBI illustrate the dominance of manufacturing and IT companies; they collectively represent 42.6% of the total number of companies in the region. Such a strong presence of companies within a key growth sector will surely mean that the Thames Valley will prove lucrative to the recruitment industry, and also to finance and accountancy professionals within the IT sector. But it’s not just hi-tech manufacturing that’s helping the region expand.

Despite being ranked third in the list of cities likely to do well in the recovery, and attracting many jobseekers from the UK and from across the world, London can be held partly responsible for the success of smaller cities that surround it. The Thames Valley has profited greatly from the excellent transport links that enable a commute of less than 30 minutes from many of the regions, towns and cities from either Paddington or Waterloo.

Companies are receptive to the benefits that the region offers, and you only need to take a trip down Slough’s Bath Road to see the validity of this statement: the headquarters of multinational companies spanning all industries decorate the landscape. With many blue chip companies offering excellent opportunities, it is no wonder that candidates are also seeing the benefits of working outside London.

With a more relaxed pace of life and cheaper living costs, many are becoming more open to the idea of working away from the rat race. An easier commute and a more relaxed work environment is a welcome incentives to those wanting an equal work-life balance. The region’s potential for growth, combined with the improving quality of life outside of London, positions the Thames Valley as a great place to work.



Lucy Zimmerman works in the Thames Valley team at Marks Sattin, placing part-qualified and qualified accountants into interim positions.

Accountancy Qualifications: The Best Way Forward

Planning for the future in the accountancy world can often seem quite daunting. Competition for opportunities is without doubt extremely challenging. Many progressive accountants turn to the option of qualifications as their golden ticket to their achievements.

Firstly, there is the ACA run by the ICAEW. This is often stereotyped as the more popular and most prestigious qualification when compared to the alternatives. There is also the ACCA, which is in fact the fastest growing accountancy qualification worldwide and it is often perceived as the best for those with international ambitions. Finally, there is the CIMA, which is rapidly becoming more popular. It is often regarded as a more generalist qualification and taken by those who want a business-orientated career with a focus away from number crunching.

For those who choose either to study ACCA or CIMA, the hope of one day becoming a CEO of a large blue chip company can seem far away. However, the number of those studying for these qualifications is rising. The ACCA is deemed a more international qualification, and might be a better option for those wishing to branch out of the city. On the other hand, the CIMA qualification is quite unlike any other accounting qualification; it extends far beyond the pure basics of accountancy and even management training courses. The CIMA offers a far broader skill set than pure number crunching; it enables you to develop key decision making, management, strategic and analytical skills.

The universal opinion that the ACA is the top qualification is difficult to dispute when as many as 70% of accountants on the FTSE 100 boards are qualified ACA. However, I would like to put forward that this may be the impact of the ACA’s historical popularity. The option of studying for the ACCA or CIMA has rapidly grown and continues to do so. While there remains a strong perception that the ACA is a harder qualification dominated by its intense, academic style, there is also a possible ‘snobbery’ factor that clearly needs to be addressed.

Although, it is clear that each qualification demands individuality, the ACA is deemed as the qualification suited to academic students, while those who wish to pursue a more managerial route opt for the CIMA qualification, and those who wish to pursue international progression opt for the ACCA. In short, the market has spoken, and the result is that all the major qualifications prepare you for a successful career. Some people feel strongly that they want to be an ACA, or want to be associated with the ACCA or CIMA. In reality, there is no doubt that regardless of perceptions they all are fantastic options for a career within accountancy.


Jemma Gent currently works as a Consultant in Commerce and Industry team at Marks Sattin. Placing part qualified accountants in o temporary positions, the team’s range of clients is continuously expanding and covers the largest commerce companies as well as some of the smaller niche companies within greater London and the City.

The Modern Apprentice

With the rise in university fees and the decline in graduate jobs, young people are wise to look to other alternatives. A degree is no longer a guaranteed route into a profession. Figures released in January show that one in five recent graduates are still unemployed six months on – and this does not include people who might be employed in entry level jobs.

Conversely, at the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT), we have noticed an increase in the number of employers choosing to recruit school leavers instead of graduates. Examples include P&G, who are solely recruiting school leavers within their European Finance Centre. However, this trend is not just restricted to the large multinationals but seems to be across the board in companies of all shapes and sizes.

This growth has also been reflected in our student figures. In 2010, the number of students under the age of 18 grew by 11%, suggesting that both employers and young people are moving towards this approach.

Along with earning a salary, accountancy apprentice training with the AAT can avoid student debt but still reward a professionally recognised qualification. The apprentice gets to put the skills they’re learning into practice, which means the qualification is put into context. In the case of accountancy, qualifying with the AAT enables you to progress and become a chartered accountant more quickly than someone with a degree. It is quite possible that someone going through this route could qualify as a chartered accountant at 21 – the average age of a university graduate.

Not only are there benefits for the apprentice, there are also benefits for businesses too. Research from the National Apprenticeship Service (NAS) shows:

• 80% of employers who employ apprentices agree they make their workplace more productive;
• 88% of employers who employ apprentices believe that Apprenticeships lead to a more motivated and satisfied workforce;
• 83% of employers who employ apprentices rely on their Apprenticeships programme to provide the skilled workers they need for the future.

The AAT has developed an apprenticeship programme for employers who want to complement their finance recruitment with employees undertaking work-based training. As the AAT Accounting Qualification is so practical, it means as the employer, you get to see the benefits of training immediately.

Employing an AAT apprentice can also be cost-effective. Government funding is available depending on the needs of your organisation and your training requirements. You can access full funding for all 16-18 year olds – so you only need to pay their salary. You could also be eligible for funding for apprentices aged 19 years and over. In addition, the Government has committed to recruit 75,000 new apprentices by 2014. AAT has a dedicated Account Management team who can provide advice on financial support.

Extra administration can be a worry for employers. But you won’t be bombarded with forms and paperwork; your apprentice’s training provider will do most of the admin for you, including a health and safety check. However, you will need to commit to supporting your apprentice's time spent out of the office, and provide a mentor for them at work.

An apprenticeship not only offers value for money but helps you grow someone into your organisation’s culture. Above all, you’re giving someone a great opportunity to take their first step in their accountancy career.

7-11 February marks National Apprenticeship Week. For further details of the National Apprenticeship Service and how they can help your business, please visit www.apprenticeships.org.uk. For further information, please contact the AAT.



Rob Alder is Business Development Manager at AAT. He is responsible for looking after the business relationships between AAT and employers training and developing their staff with AAT qualifications.

Freelance accountancy professionals must get to grips with the AWR

Later on this year, a new piece of EU legislation will come into effect that will impact on freelance accountants and finance professionals everywhere. However, as the clock ticks down to its introduction, a failure to get to grips with the new rules could be costly and damaging.

The Agency Worker Regulations (AWR) will come into force in the UK in October 2011. It has huge implications for temporary work agencies and the contractors, freelancers and temps who find work through them. The aim of the AWR is to protect vulnerable workers from exploitation and ensure them the same basic employment conditions as their permanent equivalents after 12 weeks of service – mainly the right to the same pay, working hours and holidays. However, it also has implications for skilled accountancy and finance freelancers as the legislation makes no distinction between them and low-paid, low-skilled temporary workers.

To say that the evolution of the AWR has been controversial is an understatement, and the legislation as it currently stands is the result of a plenty of horse trading between the Government, the TUC and the CBI.

Perhaps the biggest confusion seems to be around what constitutes an agency worker.

The traditional view of agency workers seems to be blue collar production line workers such as those caught up in the row between BMW and the union Unite in 2009 (which, although you can trace the beginnings of the AWR back to 2000, led to a marked step change towards its introduction). However, an agency worker can range from those working in agriculture and food production industries to temporary secretarial staff, or from jobbing actors through to highly skilled freelance accountants and consultants.

The official definition of an agency worker is a person who has a contract of employment with a temporary work agency and is supplied by them to work temporarily for, and under the supervision of, a hirer or client. They can also be known as temps, interims, contractors, freelancers or flexible workers and in the more heated moments of the AWR debate, as vulnerable workers.

Like a lot of the legislation introduced in recent years to the temporary workers market (IR35, MSC etc), the legislation has not made a distinction between these two ends of the agency worker spectrum: the vulnerable agency workers who deserve the protection of the AWR, and the highly skilled, high-earning contractors who provide their services to end users via a recruiter. It’s fair to say that most of the highly skilled, high paid agency workers do not see themselves as vulnerable or in need or want of protection.

In fact, when we polled our own base of the 8,000 contractors we work with, over 80% hadn’t even heard of the AWR, despite the impact it could have on the way they work. In addition, a survey of contractors by www.contractorcalculator.co.uk concluded that 75% of professional contractors and temps don’t want employee rights in the first place.

Temps, freelancers and interim managers need to be talking to their recruitment agents and clients now and use resources such as www.understandingawr.co.uk to brush up on their own working knowledge of the AWR.

It is absolutely right that vulnerable workers are protected in this country. However, this shouldn’t be to the detriment of the UK’s highly skilled temporary and freelance workforce who make such a valuable contribution to the economy and are supporting the fledging recovery.

If the industry gets this wrong, then a lot of time and money will be wasted as it moves to the courts and employment tribunals to sort this out. Sensible discussion now, 8 months before its introduction, will ensure that all parties in the temporary labour market can develop a robust solution in order to work within the legislation and ensure that freelancing remains a profitable option for accountancy professionals and a valued service for businesses.


Rob Crossland is the Chief executive of the Parasol family of companies, which also includes ClearSky Accounting, and provides umbrella PAYE services to over 9,000 freelancers in the UK.