Parasol

Can you beat a PS3 ?

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 14:18:00 +0100

Word reached me last week of the weird and wonderful ways that people use to input timesheets online. It started with a report of using the Internet browser on a PS3 followed by a PSP and not to be outdone someone using a Wii! I have previously used the Opera Mini browser on my Blackberry which worked fine and I suspect many other mobile variants have also been used. We have got more mobile support in the pipeline and I will have to get an iPhone just to make sure they work too. I came to Apple products late after I had started my own IT career on Texas Instruments (TI) mini computer systems, had a dabble with Apricot, worked for Olivetti and can include Data General, Altos, Pyramid and a couple even less well known manufacturers on my CV. Most of my real IT career was on Unix and Microsoft platforms, the latter of course becoming a dominant player in a number of ways. I guess my background in quirky systems meant that Apple had some appeal but buying an iPod meant they had hooked me, an iMac followed and then a Macbook. These are great for home, far less security/virus issues (smaller market share I know) and Office suites are compatible so that works too. My kids like them too – and with consoles becoming so advanced, the game play side of the PC seems to have diminished too. Don’t get me wrong I don’t think the Mac platform is suited for a majority of business implementations but I think the competition is good for Microsoft. We will continue to develop independent solutions and will happily take a Microsoft or Apple success (with all the twists and turns)!

Challenges Darling?

Wed, 28 May 2008 09:14:00 +0100

Well, another month has gone by and it still seems to be steady as you go. All of the news around jobs; economy and money flow is still a very mixed bag. Our own Contractor Daily reported, “Job-seekers looking for permanent employment are most likely to be hit as employers turn to temporary and freelance workers to fill vacancies.” That could be great news for Contractors and could prevent rates from reducing too. I also had the “pleasure” of listening to the Chancellor at a CBI dinner last week. There is no doubt that politicians know about the challenges we are facing, but they do not seem to have the ability to make the break through. (Just to be clear, I do not think there is anything to choose from any of the main parties.) The CBI has it seems begrudgingly accepted that a deal between the TUC, the government and “business” had to be done around the Temporary Workers Directive. If not, the EU it seems would have imposed more draconian measures! As it stands and with no real details as yet, “temporary workers” will have some rights akin to employment after 12 weeks. I am very much on the side of protecting vulnerable workers but some Contracting groups will find these new measures anti competitive and not be asking for these rights. Our own Umbrella employment model already delivers a number of employment rights and benefits so we will be looking at the detail when it finally arrives. Yet more red tape for UK business, Contractors and Agencies can’t be helpful to ensure we overcome any slow down.

Switched On - Giving Value Back

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 11:09:00 +0100

Welcome to the latest edition of Switched On, included in this edition are some great offers for all Parasol Flexible Employees. There are some excellent discount offers on products and services that you have told us you want… There is also a reminder about the May bank holidays. If you’re new to the UK, we get two days off in May and as a result this has an impact on bank processing timescales. For example, a Friday payment that would normally credit your account on the following Tuesday, will credit your account a day later due to the holiday. Switched On gives details of the specific dates plus deadlines for requesting an immediate payment. The intrepid staff at Parasol are also undertaking a very challenging charity endeavour! We are aiming to raise £10,000 for ChildLine by completing the three peaks challenge. We would love your support. I hope you will agree that Switched On is worth a read and of course we welcome your comments and contributions.

St Who?

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 12:48:00 +0100

Should I feel guilty that I had forgotten that today is St. Georges Day?

It's Been A While.

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 12:15:00 +0100

Quite a while since I last wrote and in that time I have been out of the UK on business, we have opened up the Ingenuity Bank, Contractor's Daily goes from strength to strength and we have pledged to raise £10,000 for ChildLine by doing the 3 Peaks Challenge! Whilst the media continue to report doom and gloom I can report that we are still seeing sensible growth and activity. We have seen on our own news service that IT has taken a downturn in terms of jobs advertised but other sectors (Engineering and Oil & Gas for example) are growing still. I think it is also important to point out that we are planning to increase our headcount and continue investment in services and solutions. So whilst government and the media continue to battle over the reality, we remain sensibly confident that investment is the correct thing to do.

Expensive Budget?

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 13:12:00 +0000

Aside from the usual Budget details what was the important stuff for Contractors and Agencies? Chancellor Darling at least deferred the income shifting plan until 2009 but it still means for some Contractors that run Limited Companies that some of the benefits of being able to have for example husband and wife shareholders, will be under threat. As we have seen with other legislation it may allow the Government to fine tune the law or perhaps see the proposals shelved? I would not put a big bet on the latter. Under the excitingly entitled “anti avoidance measures” there was much less good news for Contractors using certain trading models. Sole Trader, Isle of Man partnership and trust schemes have all been identified and loop holes closed. Whilst the owners running those types of businesses will be reassuring clients and Agencies, it has always been an aim of HMRC to stop the practice. Umbrella Companies also got a mention! Within the avoidance measures came a comment around ensuring that Expenses are not abused. I welcome this attention as in reality some sharp practices have harmed the Recruitment industry and Contractors. Parasol Contractor employees and Agency partners have nothing to fear, we have always run our business on very ethical and compliant terms. We have spent over 8 years developing a focused professional employment model and will continue that process into the future.

Read All About It!

Thu, 06 Mar 2008 15:27:00 +0000

We recently added our daily Contractors news service, the imaginatively titled, “Contractors Daily”. The news is updated at least twice a day with new articles and is a good source of industry info, sector changes and economic update. All pretty important stuff for most Contractors and you can add comments to the debate. The Contractors Daily can be found HERE and all the articles are archived in categories and months so you can easily access the historic stuff too.

Taxing Times

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 10:01:00 +0000

A couple of key things coming up on the horizon for contractors The tax year end is not far off and so it’s a last chance to ensure you get maximum tax benefit on certain planning activities in this tax year. Of probably more importance but with less certainty, is the state of the economy. You can probably imagine that I get lots of publications and predictions from a wide variety of sources. Personally I have been through recessions before and I found it to be decent times for Contractors. Quite often some of the big companies lose jobs but then find they need to complete or start projects, where do they go…. Contractors. Rates can sometimes suffer but if you have kept skills up to date and can add value, then a reduction is not always the case. I don’t think we are heading for a late 80’s, early 00’s type collapse, a sustained period of growth probably means slowing and more caution rather than boom and bust. There are also still significant skills gaps in a number of sectors and good Contractors will always find plenty of work. Here at Parasol House we remain optimistic for 2008 and will continue to be adding new services and solutions to make conditions as best they can be for Contractors.

Get Switched On - Issue One

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 15:14:00 +0000

No this is not an advert for cheaper gas bills but the name of our re-launched Contractor newsletter. “Switched On” replaces Paradigm and comes with a fresh new design and content based around Contractor feedback. One of the key items in the first version will be the findings from our recent Contractor survey. We have run several surveys over the years and the latest one makes very interesting reading. I was personally delighted with the response levels and both the positive and constructive feedback. We have already acted on some of that feedback and will continue to do so. There is also an important article that could save you £’s in relation to tax so hopefully these two alone will make it interesting enough for you to receive some value. My other hope is that Switched On gives you more of an insight into how Parasol operates and our culture. It get’s harder to communicate on that latter point as a business grows and here at Parasol we have taken steps to ring fence the things that make us what we are. We went as far as agreeing those and documenting the details, everyone at Parasol knows what we stand for and how we do business. Being a largely web facing business could make us faceless but we strive to be human and open in all that we do. If anyone ever needs any evidence, ask for our Blueprint and copies of the tons of testimonial emails we receive.

Expenses – The sequel

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 16:23:00 +0000

Following hard on the heels of my “Buyer Aware” article I am pleased to announce that we have secured some sensible improvements to our Expense policy for Contractors. Our fundamental practices in this area remain unchanged and it is for these reasons that HMRC were happy to increase limits where appropriate. I won’t go into all the specific changes, our revised expense guide has all that detail but I did want to take this opportunity to make some further points around expenses. Expense approval could be considered a pain but we check every claim. Making sure the expenses are correct and legitimate is in all our best interests. The liability for mis-claiming would sit with the Contractor and whilst it may seem like “red tape” by those Umbrella Companies that do it by the book, it really does make sense. Changing Umbrella Company is not a guaranteed way to continue claiming travel to work expenses if you hit the 24 month rule (You cannot claim expenses when you know you will be at the same site for 2 years at the point you know that fact). There should be a sensible break (not 1 day!) between assignments. Some of the above is explained when you are shopping around, some of it isn’t. As I said in the earlier article, dispensations are not an excuse to claim anything without receipts that you have not incurred. Remember, most of the red tape keeps you away from the gaze of HMRC and allows you to contract without risk.

Happy and a Prosperous New Year to all visitors to our web site.

Tue, 08 Jan 2008 11:00:00 +0000

2008 will be an interesting year on many different fronts. Economically it could be tougher times both in terms of confidence as a result of the “credit crunch” and the banks may have to respond further with interest rate cuts to support growth. In reality we are expecting a decent three months to March and we base this on some sectors continuing to show signs of good growth and a broadening of our appeal in those sectors. It seems to me that media hype about economic conditions often erodes confidence when the reality can often be quite different. Personally, I am looking forward to City winning the FA Cup and Hull KR finishing in the top 6 of the Super League, well I can but hope! I predict that 2008 will remain busy for Recruiters, Contractors and Parasol but that rates may not continue to climb as much as some have. We have some interesting new services and products in development, which will make a Contractors life easier and more rewarding and we look forward to working more directly with those Contractors that want that close involvement (an outcome from our recent Service Survey – we had a fantastic response). I look forward to hearing from you in 2008 and rest assured Parasol will be doing everything in its power to support Agencies and Contractors get the work and return they deserve.

Expenses - Buyer Beware

Mon, 17 Dec 2007 13:03:00 +0000

There has been quite a bit of noise and “information” flying around on various Contractor forums recently. Mostly this has related to the age-old subject of “dispensations” and how “new” providers are incorrectly using these. For the record, a dispensation is simply a facility for the employer (Umbrella) to reduce administration of expense claims from the employee (Contractor). It does not provide a mechanism for a Contractor to over claim expenses (set limits within the dispensation document) that are not actually being incurred. Perhaps we should consider some of the reasons why an Umbrella might do this... Some of the ex Composite providers (MSC) that are now operating as a PAYE Umbrella are now facing diminished profitability and I suggest this may the over arching reason for taking some chances (with Contractors I might add!). The economies of scale and income streams they previously enjoyed have been drastically reduced following the MSC legislation. Profit from interest on corporation tax will have been hit along and new costs introduced from either changing into “accountants” or becoming an Umbrella company. Therefore they have to replace that profit with increased volumes and one way to do that is to appeal to the Contractors pocket. Genuine business expenses are of course perfectly legitimate but the liability for claiming to set limits without receipts, and for expenses that were not incurred, is with the Contractor. Just make sure that when you receive a quote from an Umbrella it is not hiding expenses that you simply can’t claim for. Companies promoting this type of stance do the industry and Contractors no favours. It simply suggests that legislation will be required and that will only harm Contractors and the genuine businesses that exist to help Contractors work effectively, safely and with no hassle. Buyer Beware!

Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles

Fri, 14 Dec 2007 11:02:00 +0000

Imagine my disappointment when it turned out that Capcom had not based the storyline for this version of the popular game on Parasol.

The Golden Rules (of Engagement)

Sat, 01 Dec 2007 11:04:00 +0000

My name is Rob Crossland and I am the MD of Parasol and prior to that worked as a Contractor in the IT and Finance sectors. I hope you might enjoy and contribute to my musings on contracting, employment, sport and tax!

Award Season

Fri, 16 Nov 2007 18:04:00 +0000

Awarded for Services to the Recruitment Industry...