Starting out

[mark09]

hi

left my staff position to set up ltd company and freelance myself as a structural engineer. Had a call from a local agent who has offered me a 6 month contract at a good rate and all goes well with the client today i should receive a contract. However i am all very new to this so any advice on what i should be looking out for in the contract from the agent?

my original plan was to offer my services direct to the engineering companies but this agent has put up the rate i was after and could save me a bit of leg work!

any advice would be great guys

mark

[mark09]

ok just been for interview and signs look good however as stated before this was through an agent who are charging £38/hour..i was asking for £28 humph thats a tenna mark up from the agent....so some neg to be done here!

unless can i now just go direct to the client ? obviously neg to around 34/35ish or how much should i neg with the agent? how much should they be making?

[timh]

If they're getting 38, you'll certainly be able to push your rate up to 30. You might get 32, but it's unlikely you'd get more without them going to the client and asking for more for themsleves too.

Only question to ask yourself: At £30/hr you'll probably end up with about 800-850 a week after tax (less if inside IR35).. Happy with it?

You probably can't go direct, now, without the threat of legal action from the agency.

[Bluebird]

ok just been for interview and signs look good however as stated before this was through an agent who are charging £38/hour..i was asking for £28 humph thats a tenna mark up from the agent....so some neg to be done here!

unless can i now just go direct to the client ? obviously neg to around 34/35ish or how much should i neg with the agent? how much should they be making?

if you're happy with the 28 take it.

go direct if you can, but avoind pi$$ing off agent & client - they may already have a contract with penalties about taking people introduced by agent [ same as estate agents ] so they may not be able to do it antway, and you'll just look like a mercenary in clients eyes and he may not then give you the gig.

Take what you're happy with, negotiate up if you get the chance.

[Epiphone]

Take the contract, be happy with the rate youv'e agreed to. Next time you'll know what to ask the agency but they've got you the job so they deserve to be paid too.

You might get an increase come extension time but for now accept your first contract and welcome to the world of being self employed

[mark09]

agreed on 29 which i am happy with to be honest.

contract in the post....anything i need to ensure is included in the contract?

[timh]

Learn about IR35; that's quite important.

[mark09]

i have an accountant on board now (well in process) SJD reccomended by this site...will they help me out with IR35?

[timh]

I'm not sure.. They will definitely need to know if you're inside or outside it though, 'cos it'll impact your taxes.

[thunderlizard]

Yes SJD can help you a bit. Decide whether you want to work in an inside- or outside-IR35 way. If you want to work outside, them fax them a copy of the contract and they'll be able to tell you within 24 hours what needs changing in order to make it fit an outside-IR35 way of working.