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Contract to Perm

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    Contract to Perm

    Looking quite likely that I am going to have an offer in the post this week for a niche Modern Workplace consultancy company. WFH when not at client site, come into the office for shindigs and free beer. Salary circa £80k plus some benefits and 5% pension conts. Potential to fly the technical nest and head toward programme management if I play my cards right.

    I've run the sums.. If I am working the days I usually do each year (225-230 days) @ £450/day I am still better off contracting.. But I am trying to weigh up how much of a gamble that is post IR35 reform time.

    I am also tempted to do this so I can close the company up and buy the Lotus I've fancied for the past 5 years with the remaining warchest... But I just don't know if I can go back to permiedom.

    Help!

    #2
    Originally posted by mattfx View Post
    Looking quite likely that I am going to have an offer in the post this week for a niche Modern Workplace consultancy company. WFH when not at client site, come into the office for shindigs and free beer. Salary circa £80k plus some benefits and 5% pension conts. Potential to fly the technical nest and head toward programme management if I play my cards right.

    I've run the sums.. If I am working the days I usually do each year (225-230 days) @ £450/day I am still better off contracting.. But I am trying to weigh up how much of a gamble that is post IR35 reform time.

    I am also tempted to do this so I can close the company up and buy the Lotus I've fancied for the past 5 years with the remaining warchest... But I just don't know if I can go back to permiedom.

    Help!
    If. More like IF.

    Consultancy isn't bad - certainly a halfway house between normal permiedom and contracting.
    The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world that he didn't exist

    Comment


      #3
      You sums are based on an outside gig which are going to be like hens teeth. Dunno the exact numbers but assume only 50% (and I think that is ridiculously optimistic) are outside, then assume you won't be battling with just benched contractors, everyone inside is going to be going for them the number of people applying will be in the many 100s per role.

      IMO it's gonna be a nightmare.

      Run your figures against an inside gig with 3 months on the bench and see how attractive the perm role is. I'll bet it starts to look very good. Plus the benefit of coming back contracting with a different skill and billing more.
      'CUK forum personality of 2011 - Winner - Yes really!!!!

      Comment


        #4
        Originally posted by northernladuk View Post
        the number of people applying will be in the many 100s per role.
        .
        there aint that many left, in my business

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by mattfx View Post
          Looking quite likely that I am going to have an offer in the post this week for a niche Modern Workplace consultancy company. WFH when not at client site, come into the office for shindigs and free beer. Salary circa £80k plus some benefits and 5% pension conts. Potential to fly the technical nest and head toward programme management if I play my cards right.
          Help!
          Nice work! Don't know what industry you're in mate but given you said technical test? then i assume you're in IT and maybe somesort of a developer/programmer/engineer? If so, then that's not a bad package. Personally if I were to go perm, I would aim to look for a higher pension contribution (maybe around 9%+), and is the pension matched pension contribution? Also, I would look for company bonuses too (yep, bonuses are taxed but still some extra money). And free Beer! couldn't go wrong!

          Consultancies are not that bad, they're ok. I've worked for a number of consultancies in the past both as a perm & contractor. Good thing is that you can fight for an interesting project & client to work on (especially if you're perm). Potential downside is, if they somehow don't rate you then you be stuck with crap work from time to time.

          Anyways, it depends on what your short-term & long term financial goals are and whether its short term or long term thats more important for you. So choose an option going forward to would meet your finanical goals.


          Originally posted by mattfx View Post
          I am also tempted to do this so I can close the company up and buy the Lotus I've fancied for the past 5 years with the remaining warchest... But I just don't know if I can go back to permiedom.
          Help!
          .. if you can stand monthly/quartely line management meetings asking you same bloody thing every month, annual/bi-annual performance appraisals, constantly setting yourself stupid objectives that even though you meet them your line manager will also find a fault somewhere requesting you to improve yourself...

          then by all means go for the Perm role. Good luck.

          Comment


            #6
            + remember 30 days holidays is like free money


            Sent from my iPhone using Contractor UK Forum

            Comment


              #7
              Recently faced the same decision, except with a lower salary offered.

              Afraid I've lost faith in the contracting market, I'd hope to see it pick up at some point but to wage your bet on it being any time soon would be a foolish move (in my opinion). I took the perm. I'll play the perm game for as long as I need to. Got bills to pay and mouths to feed.

              EDIT: Also, I'd focus a little less on 'post ir35 reform', I don't understand what people are suspecting could possibly change in April. The key thing here is how clients perceive and react to ir35, and that reaction is already well underway.

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by mattfx View Post
                Looking quite likely that I am going to have an offer in the post this week for a niche Modern Workplace consultancy company. WFH when not at client site, come into the office for shindigs and free beer. Salary circa £80k plus some benefits and 5% pension conts. Potential to fly the technical nest and head toward programme management if I play my cards right.

                I've run the sums.. If I am working the days I usually do each year (225-230 days) @ £450/day I am still better off contracting.. But I am trying to weigh up how much of a gamble that is post IR35 reform time.

                I am also tempted to do this so I can close the company up and buy the Lotus I've fancied for the past 5 years with the remaining warchest... But I just don't know if I can go back to permiedom.

                Help!
                No interest in consultancy work that means travelling to client sites daily. That could be anywhere. Perm is bad enough. Perm with unknown commuting to backwaters that mean you have to get a company shuttle bus from the train station to the office every day as its too far to walk. No thanks.

                They do pay more consultancies - for that reason. Nobody wants it.

                Also your clients will likely be BSC. Big Stupid Companies.

                Painfully edging your projects forward against a back drop of incompetence and beaucracy. Unless it £450 a day outside at least. I wouldnt do it.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by northernladuk View Post
                  You sums are based on an outside gig which are going to be like hens teeth. Dunno the exact numbers but assume only 50% (and I think that is ridiculously optimistic) are outside, then assume you won't be battling with just benched contractors, everyone inside is going to be going for them the number of people applying will be in the many 100s per role.

                  IMO it's gonna be a nightmare.

                  Run your figures against an inside gig with 3 months on the bench and see how attractive the perm role is. I'll bet it starts to look very good. Plus the benefit of coming back contracting with a different skill and billing more.
                  Agree with NLUK.

                  I had competition from at least 100 for an inside IR35 role !! Market is very tough at the moment. I would say its 90%-10% inside currently.

                  Take the permie role, get as much training as you can, and keep an eye on the situation. If you MVL your company, then you have a couple of years to wait anyway.




                  I ran the figures and as a Senior Business Analyst I couldn't

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Agree, market is bad atm.
                    But in my book consultancy is worse then permi with client.

                    Unless you know the consultancy, know where they are sending you, know what you are in for.

                    It will be an unnecessary level of management that would like to get their money worth and considering that there are isn’t an work environment that they could upset, it is more likely for them to get nasty.

                    You’ll be asked more likely to support additional projects that if you don’t go along with, will get bad reviews and get stuck with crap work.

                    Maybe it is just me that sees them this way but it is business as usual and nobody is paying you extra for nothing.

                    Comment

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