thinking of returning to the business...

[robert_t]

Hi all,

I've been out of the UK since 1992, having been a contractor (mainframe stuff, project leader, analyst) for 5 years prior to that.

Currently living in Switzerland and running my own business on a self-employed basis, I'm looking into possibilities for next year. One possibility is to come back and look for contract work in the UK.

My current business and skill set: web design, programming (Flash, PHP, MySQL, Web 2.0, etc. etc. )and web marketing (incl. Google Advertising Professional cert.), marketing, channel marketing and international business development.

Since 1992 I've also held international marketing positions for a couple of well-known software companies.

Here are my questions:

- is this even a feasible idea or should I reconsider? If it's not feasible, why not?
- what sort of market rates are normal for web work or marketing roles that fit my skillset - obviously rough, as I haven't given full profile details?
- what experiences do others in similar situations have or am I the first person who has done this (I would be surprised)?
- any tips or ideas?

This is a serious consideration for me any any comments or thoughts would be appreciated. Any agents reading this can also contact me if they have some serious help to offer and don't just want my CV...

Looking forward to your posts!

Regards
Robert

[Mordac]

Why the f**k would you want to come back to the UK? If I were you I'd stay in CH and service your UK clients from there.

[rootsnall]

Have a look on Jobserve for ads that meet your skill set, send your CV and then ring the agents. You'll quickly suss out if there is much demand for your skills, if they can't be bothered talking to you then you know its going to be a struggle.

All the skills I have a clue about are better paid in the UK than in Europe but for you ? I have a feeling web stuff isn't that great over here.

[robert_t]

Why the f**k would you want to come back to the UK? If I were you I'd stay in CH and service your UK clients from there.

OK - good point... Just to clarify: "coming back" could of course mean doing exactly what you suggest. At the end if the day it doesn't matter where I actually live - I guess my british passport and a uk ltd company is all I need to work in the UK....

[robert_t]

Have a look on Jobserve for ads that meet your skill set, send your CV and then ring the agents. You'll quickly suss out if there is much demand for your skills, if they can't be bothered talking to you then you know its going to be a struggle.

All the skills I have a clue about are better paid in the UK than in Europe but for you ? I have a feeling web stuff isn't that great over here.

Thanks rootsnall - exactly what I've been doing this afternoon (skype is wonderful ;-) ) ...

Any more useful tips anybody?

[errorista]

Yeah . . . get a real VOIP service

[barely_pointless]

I'm in a similar position to Robert, however based in OZ for the last 5 years, pretty flexible skillset, oracle teradata , datawarehousing , banking and so forth la la la etc etc ....... thinking about coming back for family reasons (and also the dosh)

Don't you have to reside in the UK to run a UK limited company , which would of course negate any tax benefits. Commuting using the low-costers is an option (tiresome), did it for 6 months from Eire to UK and France.

And as a comparison, running a Ltd Company in the UK is childs play to having to do it here, Australia has one of the most complex tax systems I have ever come across and it's getting harder and harder to actually administer the ltd co here (which I have from a liability point of view).

Nice weather here, average rates , and crap tax system

[robert_t]

Don't you have to reside in the UK to run a UK limited company , which would of course negate any tax benefits.

Nice weather here, average rates , and crap tax system

Basically, no - you don't even need to have a UK resident company secretary any more... I'm officially self-employed in Switzerland so can simply bill my UK ltd company for my time and work in a 2-tiered approach...

the same sort of tax and other issues can, however, apply here - just with weather that's not quite the same as in OZ