Agency excessive margin

[sal]

In the context of this conversation what is your profit margin?

Cheeky semantics not going to save you here :

She showed you hers, now show her yours, what are your margins? Not that we expect an honest answer.

We are not debating recruitment agencies profit margins, just the cut they take out of what the client is paying and Lisa already told you how much her Umbrella is charging.

[tractor]

...

I am struggling to think of any professions where the margins are open?

Lawyers = nope
Accountants = nope
Healthcare = nope
Plumbers, Sparkies & Builders = nope
Retail = nope

40% of your list are trades, not professions.

I hope you are not alluding to the recruitment industry being a profession

[LisaContractorUmbrella]

In the context of this conversation what is your profit margin?

Cheeky semantics not going to save you here :

Well be specific then man To answer your new question - about 5%

[sartois]

That first time finding out how much an agency gets of your hard earned cash and then coming onto a forum to complain about it is a contractor right of passage! It's all part of the becoming a seasoned contractor journey

[psychocandy]

To a certain extend I agree with Bolshie - its just nuts sometimes.

One gig I had the agent was unbelievable. Told the client they were on a fixed margin then client didnt notice it wasnt in contract so they didnt stick to this.

Contractors were told the client said one thing and they hadn't and vice versa. Played one off against the other. Lied to both parties and pretty much risked it big time but in the end did very well out of it.

Even got contractor (not me) to cut his rate because of 'client budget cuts' and then pocketed the extra.

This sort of thing can never be good for anyone (apart from the greedy agent).
Lot to be said for fixed margins IMHO. Contractor gets his rate, agent gets his cut, client knows the score, no lying or deception needed.

[malvolio]

That first time finding out how much an agency gets of your hard earned cash and then coming onto a forum to complain about it is a contractor right of passage! It's all part of the becoming a seasoned contractor journey

Yep, totally agree. You run your own business, every else's is their concern.

Interesting side comment I read somewhere else a while back. If you come across commercially sensitive information such as this and then publish it for your own or others' use, aren't you committing an offence under the Computer Misuse Act, not to mention your own contract which will have something in it about preserving client confidentiality... Just a thought...

[LisaContractorUmbrella]

She showed you hers, now show her yours, what are your margins? Not that we expect an honest answer.

We are not debating recruitment agencies profit margins, just the cut they take out of what the client is paying and Lisa already told you how much her Umbrella is charging.

[northernladuk]

Yep, totally agree. You run your own business, every else's is their concern.

Interesting side comment I read somewhere else a while back. If you come across commercially sensitive information such as this and then publish it for your own or others' use, aren't you committing an offence under the Computer Misuse Act, not to mention your own contract which will have something in it about preserving client confidentiality... Just a thought...

Just get a gig with Hays. At some point they will mail everyone all the contractors rates again...

[Andy Hallett]

She showed you hers, now show her yours, what are your margins? Not that we expect an honest answer.

We are not debating recruitment agencies profit margins, just the cut they take out of what the client is paying and Lisa already told you how much her Umbrella is charging.

My honest answer.

http://www.sthree.com/images/reports...ments-2014.pdf

[d000hg]

I just had steak for dinner. Cost about £7 from tesco. Have to say I'm annoyed about that because when it was born as a bit of a cow, it cost the farmer nothing. Bloody shysters.

The farmer invested a lot of money in feed, veterinary bills, and cared for the cow for a number of years. The agent phoned someone up.