What are the options for going direct?

[WindyAnna]

Having worked direct for 2 major organisations I would be very careful before doing it again, they thrive on screwing every last penny out of their suppliers, i.e. you, and getting payment out of them was a nightmare. Even leaving site had no discernable impact for at least a week meanwhile I'm not working and they are still not paying me, so I leave. Payment of suppliers controlled by buying and AP teams, not by my engagement manager therefore very painful.

Also had 3 contractors work for me at another extremely large, global organisation where the AP dept changed the payment terms to invoice + 60 days for all "small" suppliers and basically told them that if they didn't like it they could walk - they did and the AP manager didn't bat an eyelid, he had been set an objective to renegotiate terms or cease trading with the suppliers and he achieved it - nice! In the same company when contractors went direct they just took off the margin that they would have paid the agency anyway so the contractors were no better off.

Generally I've found smaller organisations to be better than the large ones in this respect as the left hand does tend to have more idea about what the right hand is doing.

Also worth noting that I have worked in a few companies who will not deal direct, not entirely sure why. One reason is that some organisations work on keeping their vendor numbers low and dealing direct with many contractors prevents this. anotehr is cash flow, they will work on a longer payment period with an agency than they will with you direct.

My advice would be that if your cashflow can take it and the company will pay you the inclusive (of margin) rate then go for it but it isn't as perfect as it may seem!

Windy

[Orbit]

Clients often advertise gigs on sites - you might even be able to negotiate a better rate as they'll be saving on agency costs if they hire you from a direct contact. Worth looking out for this type of thing until you become more established and have your own network of contacts.

Also, it's a good thing to be seen to be marketing yourself to support working outside of IR35. I recently listed myself in a contractor directory service which cost me nothing to do as they were offering free subscriptions:

Bottom line is working direct is way better than working through an agency, and the emergence of client-posting job sites and contractor directories has made it easier than ever. Good luck!

[thunderlizard]

Direct contracting is much much better than using an agency. From a contractor's point of view, all agencies do is stick themselves in the middle of the deal, and put loads of restrictions on it, thus forcing the contractor into a time-charging one-man-band way of working that it's impossible to make a proportionate profit out of.

[Ravello]

Interested to know what my options are as I’m quite new to the contracting scene – do I need to be a seasoned contractor before I seriously contemplate going direct?

Nope just got to have the contacts.

Only additional effort on your side might be that you have to prepare the contract. PCG has templates for this if you do find a direct client.

[macro]

Just read this article:

http://www.contractoruk.com/news/003423.html

They claim 81% of contractors would prefer to go direct instead of using an agent - obviously great if you can find work that way…

Interested to know what my options are as I’m quite new to the contracting scene – do I need to be a seasoned contractor before I seriously contemplate going direct?