Setting up the 9% agency

[DodgyAgent]

Yes. You'll also see big windows of 11% agency across the road, check out the other thread - it should be a good view ...

as long as I am looking down on them

[AtW]

as long as I am looking down on them

You'll have glass floor in your cabinet then?

[MPwannadecentincome]

There is a lot more to this game than you guys may think?

is that a question to the contractors on CUK?

[Diver]

I am sure that delivering the service would not be a problem, though there is a skill and dodginess required in negotiating placements.

FTFY

[OrangeHopper]

What about a place endorsed, by CUK contractors, that allows clients to look for prospective contractors. It would probably be run by/as an agency but it would be, again, one endorsed by the contractor community. A one/stop shop.

[malvolio]

The real problem is not running the agency, it's finding the dead money you need to support paying 100 contractors before getting paid yourself.

If you have 100 people in contract at an average £250 a day, every 7 days you have to pay out £125k. It will be an average 60 days before you get that money back from the client, so you are carrying a running daily debt of (£125k * 60) = £7.5 million... plus interest.

Still think it's a good idea?

[bobhope]

That's what factoring services are for. Or maybe just model it on the way contracting used to work decades ago - end client pays contractor and contractor then pays the agency.

[OrangeHopper]

I've never been paid weekly. I've always raised a single invoice a month and expect to be paid within 28 days. What's wrong with that model?

Ok, still need factoring if 60 day client payment but can't this be an extension to the adopted agency's factoring arrangement?

[DodgyAgent]

That's what factoring services are for. Or maybe just model it on the way contracting used to work decades ago - end client pays contractor and contractor then pays the agency.

Quite. If at first it is tricky then do a deal with the contractors explaining that they will get paid as soon as you do. Once the track record is established get factoring and keep your contractors informed.

The biggest difficulty by far is getting the requirements and having good lines of communication with the decision makers.

[DodgyAgent]

What about a place endorsed, by CUK contractors, that allows clients to look for prospective contractors. It would probably be run by/as an agency but it would be, again, one endorsed by the contractor community. A one/stop shop.

It will never work. It is one thing finding a list of available contractors but nailing and negotiating the one with the right skills at the right time at the right place is a very time consuming task.
Variables include;

is the contractor available
what other jobs is he up for
is the location convenient

from the contractor perspective

he has to keep as many options open as possible without letting on that he may not take the job that he doesnt really want
Playing one job off against another to get a better rate
will want a job that is convenient, will enhance his skills set will be well paid

These variables between client and contractor rarely match each other so imagine the time spent by a hiring manager trawling through multiple CVs, tracking down a shortlist, arranging interviews and then negotiating terms of a contract.

Clients want three or four CVs on their desk that match their requirement both in terms of skills availability and price. They want to make one phone call to arrange all the interviews and then another call to make the final selection.