Contractor demand in Scotland rises at fastest pace since June 2012
Demand for contractors in Scotland during November rose at its fastest pace since June 2012, with demand appearing to outpace supply. The Bank of Scotland Report on Jobs shows increasing agency billings, falling contractor availability and rising rates of pay. These facts together suggest that there are not enough contractors available with the right skills. Demand growth for IT and engineering contractors slowed in November, when compared to the previous month, but remained in positive territory. More...
Hot IT contractor skills for 2013 will be social, mobile and cloud
The hot IT contractor skills for 2013 will be social commons, mobile communications and cloud and information, forecasts IT analyst Gartner in its Top Industry Predicts 2013 report. The uptake of these technologies will be driven by paradigm shifts in design and delivery by commercial products, service providers and public sector organisations. Autonomous vehicle technology, pay-as-you-drive insurance, non-traditional money creation, medical devices and security and 3D printing represent some of the industrial trends that will drive demand for IT contractor skills in the coming years. More...
Contractor hiring in London forecast to grow during 2013
Contractor hiring by London businesses is expected to grow in the next six months, after a period of clients only taking on essential recruits in the first half of 2012, according to the latest CBI/KPMG London Business Survey. Contractor clients remain cautious about the economy, fearing the impact of the eurozone crisis, another recession and the lack of a government growth strategy on their business. However, London-based firms are upbeat about the competitiveness of the city, with 92% “rating the capital as a good or very good place to do business.” More...
Oil and gas contractors to benefit from strengthened safety and environmental measures
Oil and gas contractors will benefit from a range of strengthened safety and environmental measures stemming from a government review commissioned in the wake of the Gulf of Mexico Macondo well tragedy. The review, conducted by Professor of Energy Engineering Geoffrey Maitland of Imperial College London, recommends tightening-up existing safety measures in place on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS).
Contractors receive contract boost from $1.6bn North Sea investment
Contractors throughout the supply chain, including oil and gas, engineering and IT, can expect a stream of new contracts following the announcement by Dana Petroleum to invest $1.6bn in a new oil field in the Northern North Sea. According to Dana Petroleum’s group chief executive, Dr Marcus Richards, the investment only went ahead following tax measures introduced by the Treasury to incentivise North Sea investment by energy firms. “We welcome the announcements by the Treasury this year to support oil and gas companies operating in the North Sea,” said Richards. More...
UK creative industry growth centred in the North of England
The growth in the UK’s creative freelancer and contractor sector is centred around the North of England, according to new data from freelance marketplace PeoplePerHour. A surge in new designers, illustrators and copywriters has resulted in triple-digit growth in new freelancer businesses across northern cities such as Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield and Bradford. The data dispels popular perceptions that London and the South East are the UK’s top creative regions: Ashford in Kent was the only South East town to feature in the growth top ten. More...
Contractor guidance on the latest tax and allowance updates by HMRC
Contractors can access information about tax and allowances, new regulations and consultations via HMRC’s latest Agent Update. The December 2012 edition features changes to HMRC’s services, self-assessment and the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Real Time Information (RTI) initiative. It also highlights HMRC’s new approach to its business record checks (BRC) campaign, which was restarted in November 2012.
HMRC publishes statutory residence test consultation for non-dom/non-resident contractors
HMRC has published its new statutory residence test guidance for contractors not resident in the UK for tax purposes, or who may spend time out of the UK on overseas contracts. The new statutory residence test will come into force from April 2013 and provides detailed guidance on the circumstances under which UK tax residency applies. The guidance is currently in draft form and HMRC is asking for comments from contractors about its scope and coverage by 6 February 2013.
HMRC’s poor telephone performance costs taxpayers £136m
Contractors and other taxpayers are spending £33m in call charges and a conservatively estimated £103m in time costs to speak to HMRC. The latest analysis of HMRC’s customer service during 2011-2012 by the National Audit Office (NAO) also shows that letters to HMRC take on average three weeks to be answered. HMRC’s “current performance represents poor value for money for customers” says the NAO, highlighting that 20m calls were simply not answered during 2011-2012. More...
This is the last News In Brief column for 2012. Thank you for reading ContractorCalculator – we’ll be back on 2 January 2013. We wish you an enjoyable holiday period and a healthy, happy and prosperous new contracting year.