r/ContractorUK

Hey everyone,

Looking for some advice, I am moving to a contractor role at my current employer at a day rate of £450 (Outside IR35).

This is my first time, so looking for some help of what I need to do. E.g.

Setup a LTD company?
Do I need an accountant?
Does the employer provide the contract?
What would my take home look like at £450 per day full time each month?
Anything else I need to do?

Thanks

Hello, I have started a role working inside ir35 for an umbrella (it was outside but i have closed my company). The role was told in initial emails to be a rollout project but it seems I am really just doing 2nd line work. Is this right? Can they do this? Seems like scope shifted to me

Hi all. I'm looking for some advice on workplace pension scheme requirements.

My wife and I are 50/50 directors of a LTD company. We both received a PAYE salary of £12,570. We both have SIPPs set up for pensions, and contribute to that from the company every month. Neither of us specifically have employment contracts in place.

According to my accountant, we need to register for a workplace pension scheme. I'm a little confused on this point, since the advice from the TPR suggests we don't need one if we don't have employment contracts.

Do we have a deemed contract of employment by virtue of receiving a PAYE salary? What do others do in this situation?

If I need to set one up, any recommendations, given that we will both immediately opt out in favour of the SIPPs?

Maybe it’s social media horror stories or bad experiences people have had before, but lately it feels like some customers assume you’re about to rip them off the second you give a quote. Had one bloke ask me three separate times why materials cost what they cost like I was secretly building him a space shuttle. Feels like trust between trades and customers has got noticeably worse the last few years. Anyone else finding this?

Curious. Given the level of layoffs and the rate of unemployment in the UK going up, is being self-employed actually... safer?

How do you feel about the security of contracting compared to permanent employment?

How are your levels of work and feeling of financial stability?

View Poll

Very much not my forte but I would quite like to get a little website up and running to promote my services. Don't have a clue where to start or which app/platform to use.

Can anyone make some recommendations on what to use, how to get started, whether it's normal to pay or are there free versions? (edit: i don't mind paying, i just want to know all the options).

I would not be able to do it writing code or anything like that.

Main requirement I have at the moment is I wouldn't want the platform's name appearing in the URL (datagenius.squarespace.co.uk etc) That's not my company's real name by the way.

Many thanks

I’m currently in the process of moving into a contract role. They’re offering an initial 12-month contract with the possibility of extension afterwards.

My main concern is job security. Even if the contract says 12 months, can they legally terminate it earlier than that?

I currently have a stable permanent full-time job, so I’m trying to understand the real risks before making a decision. Would appreciate hearing from people who’ve worked contract roles before, especially in tech.

I know the economy is bad. And I've been warned by many to not get into contracting, but it's a bug which has been itching at me for to long for me not to do.
I really hate my current perm role and as time goes on I am planning my exit strategy.

I have 3-months notice, so when I talk to recruiters this is a big no for contract roles. So to get into contracting, I would have to leave my full-time role. But when would be the best time to do this? If I hand in my notice in December - then I would be ready for March which seems like when hiring is more hot

Hi,

For startups, is it generally better to hire for permanent or contract roles?

I’m based in London, currently looking for work, and to make things easier I’d like companies to know that I’m open to contract opportunities. At the same time, I don’t want to come across as dismissive of permanent full-time roles.

Personally, I prefer being paid directly in full so I can manage things like investments, retirement savings, and work-related expenses myself. Of course, have to do and manage my own taxes via self assessment.

For example, I can pay taxes at EOY, which allows me to put money into investments; I understand risks. Otherwise, as a permanent I only have half of it.

I’ve also been fortunate to rarely miss work due to illness (never happened, +14 years), and I’m fairly comfortable with the trade-offs that come with contract work, such as reduced job security or no benefits.

What would you recommend is the best way to position this with startups?

Hi everyone - I've been a freelancer for nearly 20 years, and while I've had 2 previous contract gigs, it's been a few weeks as I worked on some big scoped projects for some big brands.

Towards the end of last year I decided to try to get back into contracting, but have found it hard - expired clearances hasn't helped.

I found the process quite deflating, and combined with AI fear and general dread of turning 40, becoming a dad and having a full brain I found myself also looking at permanent roles and applied for a permanent government job - 1 day a week on site.

I got offered the job - but as soon as i got offered job also got offered a new part time contract with one of the big recruiters for a well known brand.

So I'm really torn what to do and would love to hear some insight from other folks who may have at times gone down either path. I've never worked a full time job before - so going permie would be a huge deal and mean i could stop chasing gigs and also get off linkedin - but it's a decent paycut and although flexible, not as flexible as freelance/contracting.

The contract isn't for ages, but could be extended and I feel it may lead to other things and get me back in there - although I'm still not sure how likely that is. Trying to do the responsible dad thing but not sure what this is!

Thanks

Just came across an Outside IR35 role that actually looks pretty interesting, but the client wants a mutual 4-week notice period in the contract. I usually prefer 1–2 weeks max just because I like having a bit more flexibility if another project comes up, and I’ve also seen people say shorter notice periods fit better with Outside IR35 arrangements. Would a 4-week notice period put you off taking a contract, or is that just becoming normal now?

So I'm up to head with the horrible hell hole that is LinkedIn. Yet my latest contract came via it, and no matter how much I rely on alerts I find it hard to occassionally use linkedin and not feel I'm losing out on potential opportunities.

If I set alerts for anyone I see as a good potential recruiter then I get alerts all the time as they all reshare and repost, and there's no way to add much logic to the filtering.

I'm to the point where I'd consider a permie gov job as would mean I get off the thing (although you could argue government meeting and 30-email long threads and their own hellscape).

Has anyone got stories of success here?

Thanks

If paying Director's salary which is below the annual National Insurance threshold for directors, it seems that you still need to register for PAYE and report the salary via that. However, once registered for PAYE for this purpose, are you obligated to run and report payroll every month, even if you do not pay salaries monthly and the director's salary was a one-off payment at the end of the tax year?

Paying myself as a LTD company director

Hi folks. Looking for advice on how to pay myself as a sole Ltd company director.

Im a contract welder in the UK. I bounce from job to job. I recently set up my own company as I've been getting more work which offer LTD company pay.

I want to make sure im getting everything right as I really dont want to be bitten later down the line.

My current understanding is i pay myself the £12,570 tax free amount. I then keep 20% aside on the rest of the money to pay my corporation tax. What's left over i pay myself in dividends which is then taxed at 10.75% which ill also need to keep aside.

Please let me know if I've got any of this wrong.

I also make sure to buy fuel on the company when travelling to work

Thanks in advance folks

When I originally went to contracting after 15yrs of perm roles I didnt get asked at interview why I want to go contracting. Yet Im repeatedly being asked 'why you want to go perm' in my recent round of perm interview roles.

No matter what I say I generally get feedback (either directly in interview or from agent after) that no matter what I say the client says 'when the market picks up he will jump ship for yhr higher day rate'.

I would be interested to know what people's answers to this have been and whether they work?

Ive tried all of the following;

I love your companies software and so want to work with you to make it even better.

I want career progression (as contracting dont generally work on increased titles)

I would like to build up relationships with colleagues instead of the fleeting ones in contracts.

I never use this one: Due to market being bad - as that always makes people think your temp until market gets better

About to start my journey into the world of contracting and curious to hear from those more experienced..what separates the good from the great?

As the title states. I know it’s a dog eat dog world out there, but I’ve been looking for a contract job for over 2 years. I haven’t even got close to even getting an interview. All these recruiters seems to collect CVs and not really interested in sharing any real opportunities,

I know this is a post of desperation, but happy to take on any contract in Cyber Security, I’ve got an MSc in information security, got CISSP and loads of other certs from vendors and what not. I have only been in security and has been in the field for 9 years now. I don’t have much experience in red team, but I’ve got a plethora on blue team. I’ve been looking for remote roles, but I can’t seem to find any.

If any one can give me any tips, or share real recruiters or contacts that can help me. I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks in advance!

For note, this is not a post of me looking for jobs rather just help from you!

Just had a few questions as I’ve never worked as a contractor before.

I’ve been offered a 1-year contract at £500/day outside IR35 with possible extension, and I’m currently in a perm role on £60k.

Anything you’d recommend I should ask the company before deciding? And any tips for someone starting out in contracting?

Thanks a lot!