UK contracting seen in global context at PCG event
Contractors across the globe are facing the same issues of hostile tax regimes, over-regulation and lack of political understanding about the contribution contractors make to national economies. This is according to a panel of expert international speakers at a PCG Event held in London this week. It was attended by ContractorCalculator’s Dave Chaplin, who says: “The ‘third way’ of working, that between employment and self-employment, is not properly recognised in most countries.” More…
Falling unemployment figures show rise in self-employed contractors
The latest UK labour market statistics published by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) show that the unemployment rate fell to 7.8%, the lowest for a year, with the number of people in work rising by 160,000. This is the largest increase since August 2006 and includes a significant number of new contractors. The underlying data reveals that the increase was largely due to workers taking part-time work and self-employment. A rise of 59,000 means there are now 3.93m self-employed people in the UK. More…
CIPD predicts high unemployment will drive contractor figures
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) warns that, if the private sector fails to grow as forecast, the UK faces a long period of high unemployment. This could result in many workers turning to contracting as an alternative to full-time permanent employment. CIPD Chief Economic Adviser John Philpott says: “It doesn’t require anything like a double-dip recession to cause a serious prolonged jobs deficit, merely economic growth in the range of 2-2.5 per cent per annum.” More…
Some (temporary?) good news for contractors in consumer-dependent sectors
Contractors working in the retail and consumer goods suppliers sectors will have experienced an upturn in activity and improved fortunes, as sales increased by 3.4% on June 2009. Online retailers also saw sales increase sharply, up by 17% on the same period in 2009. However, buoyant sales may be short lived, as Stephen Robinson, Director General of the British Retail Consortium, explains: “The Budget is affecting confidence but it won't be until the impact of the measures is actually felt that it really hits spending.” More…
Construction contractors facing uncertain future
Contractors in the construction sector are facing an uncertain future, but it seems that the slack in public sector construction might be taken up by the private sector. Commercial property development in the UK fell for the first time in three months following a sharp fall in activity in public sector office development and new build, according to the Savills Commercial Development Activity Index. However private sector activity has risen steadily over the last 11 months and may show strong enough growth to offset public sector cuts, as Michael Pillow, Head of Building Consultancy at Savills suggests: “Public sector austerity measures are now firmly impacting on the development market, with development activity for public sector clients now in double-dip territory. Thankfully the slack is being taken up by continuing growth in the private sector.” More…