Free Umbrella Company

[mackon]

I am sorry to be so negative, but I have just joined JSA umbrella which I now find out has been losing money and has only survived by not paying the taxman. I am not risking my livelihood and I'm moving elsewhere.

Where's the financial guarantee that Mr Glover & Springboard won't do the same?

I'm an IT contractor and worked for an internet company until the internet bubble burst. This was caused by a brilliant business model:

1. give it away for free to buy market share
2. work out how to make money later
3. use investors money until it runs out
4. go bust and don't bother to pay the staff and contractors you owe money to!!!
5. oh nearly forgot, always sound as if you know what your talking about - even if you don't

Once bitten....

[Hex]

I am sorry to be so negative, but I have just joined JSA umbrella which I now find out has been losing money and has only survived by not paying the taxman. I am not risking my livelihood and I'm moving elsewhere.

Where's the financial guarantee that Mr Glover & Springboard won't do the same?

I'm an IT contractor and worked for an internet company until the internet bubble burst. This was caused by a brilliant business model:

1. give it away for free to buy market share
2. work out how to make money later
3. use investors money until it runs out
4. go bust and don't bother to pay the staff and contractors you owe money to!!!
5. oh nearly forgot, always sound as if you know what your talking about - even if you don't

Once bitten....

And yet - even after not getting paid by your "Internet Company", you still used some other company to handle the money you've earnt. Why use an umbrella at all. There are tales of a number of them going bust in the current climate. Set up your own limited and look after your own money. Some people say they don't want the hassle, but how much hassle is it when you don't get paid 'cos the umbrella has gone bust?

[LisaContractorUmbrella]

A good umbrella company should keep the money that is owing to HMR&C and their employees seperate from their own income i.e. the umbrella company's fees go to one account from which they run their business and everything else goes to another.

[Hex]

A good umbrella company should keep the money that is owing to HMR&C and their employees seperate from their own income i.e. the umbrella company's fees go to one account from which they run their business and everything else goes to another.

Maybe it should, but as an employee of that Umbrella it's hard to be certain they are doing this and I would hazard a guess that quite a few don't.

[northernladuk]

I read the title and turned off..

I mean, who idiot would sign up for something that was 'free'. End of discussion really.

The fact you are marketing something as free will immediately get peoples suspicions up and shoot yourself in the foot. We all expect to pay something so a better marketing ploy would have been to tell us you will charge us something!!!

[Frantic Chicken]

I read the title and turned off..

I mean, who idiot would sign up for something that was 'free'. End of discussion really.

The fact you are marketing something as free will immediately get peoples suspicions up and shoot yourself in the foot. We all expect to pay something so a better marketing ploy would have been to tell us you will charge us something!!!

Good Point. So come on then mglover, what are you expecting to achieve from this?

[Numpty]

So come on then mglover, what are you expecting to achieve from this?

The need to create a new account:

mglover
Banned

[YNWA]

There is no such thing as free....

There are so many clever, experienced contractors on board and I cant believe no one such worked this out

Of course anu umbrella companies can charge for free if they want to, and still make money (if not more money than the fee normally charged)....

simples....

[Frantic Chicken]

There are so many clever, experienced contractors on board and I cant believe no one such worked this out

Of course anu umbrella companies can charge for free if they want to, and still make money (if not more money than the fee normally charged)....

simples....

How do they make money without charging a fee?

[brianjonesaat]

Hmm!

I was thinking of closing Ltd down as close to retirement and only doing a few days so thought Umbrella might be a good idea. Looked at this Springboard thing but put off when I went to "secure" site to see it was a normal http: site with the word secure used in the url! Do they think we are thick?!? That's really poor if you're adding personal details and tells me they are cutting corners for sure.