Staying in the same public sector contract after April 2017

[eek]

Add all that in, and you'll still be 50% cheaper than the big 4

Yep I would still be about 30-50% cheaper than the big 4.

Unfortunately I would be in the same ballpark as other Microsoft Partners before agency costs and that might be a problem....

[youngguy]

Say you're on a £500 dayrate at the moment. Expenses aside (let's assume it's a basic commute and the fiver a day isn't worth the hassle collecting receipts for), what would the mark-up need to be to get the same "take home"? Are you looking at, say, £700?

I did a rough estimate a few weeks ago based on what little info there is and worked out I'd have had to raise my rate by about 20-25per cent if pension was still an allowable expense and at least 40per cent if pension is not allowable . (I generally commute daily and have pretty low expenses )

[jamesbrown]

Yep I would still be about 30-50% cheaper than the big 4.

Unfortunately I would be in the same ballpark as other Microsoft Partners before agency costs and that might be a problem....

...30-50% better too

[westtester]

I did a rough estimate a few weeks ago based on what little info there is and worked out I'd have had to raise my rate by about 20-25per cent if pension was still an allowable expense and at least 40per cent if pension is not allowable . (I generally commute daily and have pretty low expenses )

I've seen a couple of ads for testers on govt projects and they're offering not much over £200 a day, if anything it looks like rates are going downwards. Maybe the pay ceiling that's been operating in the NHS is being applied to other departments? I think the chances of getting big rates rises are pretty slim.

[eek]

I've seen a couple of ads for testers on govt projects and they're offering not much over £200 a day, if anything it looks like rates are going downwards. Maybe the pay ceiling that's been operating in the NHS is being applied to other departments? I think the chances of getting big rates rises are pretty slim.

Up north I'm seeing the opposite. Rates that at HP were no more than £450 max are now in DWP at £550-650 and they will be paying the upper end of that....

Granted its not testing but I don't think the public sector care much about things working...

[LondonManc]

Up north I'm seeing the opposite. Rates that at HP were no more than £450 max are now in DWP at £550-650 and they will be paying the upper end of that....

Granted its not testing but I don't think the public sector care much about things working...

So previously it was a gig via HP's consultancy arm?

[youngguy]

I've seen a couple of ads for testers on govt projects and they're offering not much over £200 a day, if anything it looks like rates are going downwards. Maybe the pay ceiling that's been operating in the NHS is being applied to other departments? I think the chances of getting big rates rises are pretty slim.

I'm going back over a yr but I did start seeing rates much lower, PMs at 350-400 etc.

I think once the CLone stuff started getting traction , with margins being low and fixed (i heard in the 4-8pc range), Capita went for numbers rather than margins. They would often say "the role is at 400 but we recommend you go in lower to be competitive". Over time this seems to have driven rates down a bit, as well as dept expectations.

Although I recall on several occasions depts being miffed at PMs with little experience who then could not cut the mustard. Buy cheap, buy twice .....

I agree re rate rises being unlikely. However as a business if I get a call about a role I will not immediately dismiss it until I know it is definitely not viable and I would go back to the PS if the terms were right (namely the rate)

[eek]

So previously it was a gig via HP's consultancy arm?

Nope previously this was hosted and managed by HP. The system is now going in house within DWP and that is the rate in the adverts that have appeared today for the system migration jobs....

[LondonManc]

Nope previously this was hosted and managed by HP. The project is now going in house within DWP and that is the rate in the adverts that have appeared today for the service migration jobs....

Ah right. It wouldn't surprise me if DWP are simply chopping the consultancy rate up and going direct to market rather than have HP chunk a fair whack on top because they're HP. As good as they are, you can get non-HP staff to do similar stuff for a fraction of the price. Let's not go there with chopping Capita out of the consulting part

[neil99]

Ah right. It wouldn't surprise me if DWP are simply chopping the consultancy rate up and going direct to market rather than have HP chunk a fair whack on top because they're HP. As good as they are, you can get non-HP staff to do similar stuff for a fraction of the price. Let's not go there with chopping Capita out of the consulting part

The big consultancies are charging out independent contractors at over double the rate they pay them at the place I am engaged. You'd think that margin would have to give.

I've been approached about work in Telford and Newcastle but told the agencies that it's not viable any more given we can't charge expenses and will likely taxed at source from April 2017.