Will the contract market recover? If so when?

[DrewG]

isn't this just building a network of people you know who are good, but having some parasite organization leach money from it?
Unless the boutique firm can add value they are just another sleazy bunch of slimeball parasites.

It's a free market, feel free to go and win the work yourself.

[avonleigh]

Any chance we can get this back on topic instead of discussion DrewG's personal situation.

Unlikely. You can’t shut narcissists up.

[edison]

I'm pretty cold on these setups. This idea has been floating around for many years now. A lot of us will remember Hays tried this at Barclays offering a solution to them for contractors to be part of a team rather than bums on seats. Was rubbish for the poor people that got on it. Doing exactly the same as the full contractor next to them for absolutely zero benefit. Sold as a solution but no management/organisation that comes with a true consultancy offering a solution.

I was with Methods when they started this for public sector. Being on a 'managed service' offering but was nothing more an independant contactor but Methods had a 'relationship manager' who came on site every couple of months to see how delivery was going on. To be fair to them they have grown and I've seen they now offer a much better consultancy offering where they do own and deliver a piece of work with a mix of their staff and contractors.

A bunch of contractors under a company just pretending to be a consultancy offering a managed service doesn't often work as they intend and you end up working just like an independant contractor so the client over pays and doesn't get much benefit from the 'consultancy' offering. Bit like all the ideas that came out when the IR35 thing hit. All the contractors being forced inside thinking they could band together and offer a solution. Just didn't work.

Do your homework and see past the blurb to what is going on. In a vasy majority of cases it's just agency+bum on seat as usual even though they try dress it up as something else. Happy to stand corrected but I'd say there are very few of these contractor rabble offerings that truely do what they say.

If I was a client looking for a solution I'd be looking for a solid offering with perms/contractors from a company that's focussed on and has delivered this kind of wrap before. I most certainly wouldn't be entertaining chancers that will grab work and just chuck a bunch of contractors at it.

I think those are fair challenges and I am aware of the examples you quoted in Hays and Methods.

The firm I spoke to are a bit different as it does seem a genuine consultancy model (as opposed to managed service). Their USP is for about the same price as a junior bod from the likes of Deloitte or Accenture you get someone with 20 plus years of experience who has typically been a Head Of or Director level. They can do the strategy, implementation etc and work closely with the client to do so.

Judging by the dozens of blue chip clients they have I guess they are doing very well. Also, most of the contractors I spoke to were senior level and not bum on seat types.

[edison]

isn't this just building a network of people you know who are good, but having some parasite organization leach money from it?
Unless the boutique firm can add value they are just another sleazy bunch of slimeball parasites.

Isn't that just a recruitment agency?

I do believe it is a boutique consultancy model and I personally know two founders of such outfits very well and they are good people. A good mate of mine worked with one of them on a client gig last year and they paid very good rates too.

[northernladuk]

I think those are fair challenges and I am aware of the examples you quoted in Hays and Methods.

The firm I spoke to are a bit different as it does seem a genuine consultancy model (as opposed to managed service). Their USP is for about the same price as a junior bod from the likes of Deloitte or Accenture you get someone with 20 plus years of experience who has typically been a Head Of or Director level. They can do the strategy, implementation etc and work closely with the client to do so.

Judging by the dozens of blue chip clients they have I guess they are doing very well. Also, most of the contractors I spoke to were senior level and not bum on seat types.

I am sure there has to be someone out there that has managed to get it right and make it work. Just trying to find a post a bit ago about a company in the defence world offering up contractors as a solution. Had a picture of an apache on the front but for the life of me I can't find it. Looked OK on the surface but as you dug in it just ended up looking like placing bums on seats in defece roles.

Thing is what do you want out of it though. To me Methods was just another way in to a client to get paid for what I do. Direct, agent, pseudo Managed Service, consultancy etc all just a means to an end to get in and get billing. I can't remember the work or the process being much different.

[edison]

I am sure there has to be someone out there that has managed to get it right and make it work. Just trying to find a post a bit ago about a company in the defence world offering up contractors as a solution. Had a picture of an apache on the front but for the life of me I can't find it. Looked OK on the surface but as you dug in it just ended up looking like placing bums on seats in defece roles.

Thing is what do you want out of it though. To me Methods was just another way in to a client to get paid for what I do. Direct, agent, pseudo Managed Service, consultancy etc all just a means to an end to get in and get billing. I can't remember the work or the process being much different.

Good question again and this type of model won't really suit people who do BAU work.

However, from my experience of working five years in very large and boutique consultancies, I'd say all other things being equal in terms of getting a gig and getting paid, a big plus point of this model is you tend to work in smaller focused consulting teams with more direct exposure to senior client staff. This translated into more interesting and fulfilling work but YMMV.

[Lance]

Isn't that just a recruitment agency?

I do believe it is a boutique consultancy model and I personally know two founders of such outfits very well and they are good people. A good mate of mine worked with one of them on a client gig last year and they paid very good rates too.

it would be if they could a small team of people, who work well together, who can deliver an outcome.
I've not known any agency ever do that.

My point about the boutique consultancy is that the small group of people can do this off their own backs. They don't need the consultancy.
Unless of course the consultancy has something to add, like a pipeline of clients, maybe it's run by at least some of the people who do the actual work.

A boutique consultancy who are just a small company of agents are parasites.

[sreed]

I can only speak for the roles I'm qualified to do and the sectors that I wouldn't mind working in but based on that I don't share in all the doom and gloom.

Do I see enough work currently in the market that matches my profile and pays me adequately? Am I confident of keeping my current contract and landing a similar/better one?
Yes to both.

As someone said in a previous post, as a contractor you need to be flexible and all it takes as an individual is landing one contract that you're happy with.

There is and continues to be a shortage of talent in the UK and I don't see that changing anytime soon. If anything, with more roles requiring less/no presence in the office compared to a few years ago, I have a much wider pool of opportunities to look at, at least that's been my experience.

[SussexSeagull]

I can only speak for the roles I'm qualified to do and the sectors that I wouldn't mind working in but based on that I don't share in all the doom and gloom.

Do I see enough work currently in the market that matches my profile and pays me adequately? Am I confident of keeping my current contract and landing a similar/better one?
Yes to both.

As someone said in a previous post, as a contractor you need to be flexible and all it takes as an individual is landing one contract that you're happy with.

There is and continues to be a shortage of talent in the UK and I don't see that changing anytime soon. If anything, with more roles requiring less/no presence in the office compared to a few years ago, I have a much wider pool of opportunities to look at, at least that's been my experience.

That's encouraging but I stress that until you actually have to go and get a new contract as opposed to looking at the market you won't really know.

Agree about needing to be flexible.

[DrewG]

That's encouraging but I stress that until you actually have to go and get a new contract as opposed to looking at the market you won't really know.

Agree about needing to be flexible.

Exactly this. I've seen a roles pulled (post-offer) due to clients having "last minute budget issues".