Steve is the Systems Coordinator at Project Resource. Steve focuses on web marketing, website development, data management and brand consistency.
Steve is also involved in advertising research and has a keen interest in social networking.
“Welcome to my page. I hope that you find what I have to say of interest and I look forward to blogging with you.”
Posts by Steve Gore:
11 Jan 2012
With the end of the tax year in only a few months, many people are starting to ask questions about their tax returns and what their obligations are. This is especially true of those who work on a contract or freelance basis.
David Davies, of umbrella company Bar 2, was kind enough to supply this guide to tax returns for contractors.
It is normally about this time of year when we start to get a number of enquiries from employees who are worried about completing their self-assessment tax returns.
The first thing to consider is which method of payment you have been using? Read the rest of this entry »
16 Dec 2011
It’s been a few weeks now since Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, revealed his Autumn Statement and the question on the lips of many is ‘how does this affect me?’ Like it not, this year’s annual Autumn Statement can have an effect on all individuals living the UK. The severity of its effect will differ depending on your individual circumstances but, with the current economic troubles, paying attention to the Autumn Statement is more crucial than ever. With implications for the housing market, pension schemes and tax levels, the latest unveiling of government plans are an important measure for times ahead.
A major change for many will be the decision to extend the State retirement age to 67. This means that for everyone who was born after 1960, your working life will be longer. Though not coming into effect until 2026, allowing peace of mind for those due to retire in the next 14 years, you’ll have to factor an extended working life into your plans if you’re to be affected by the changes. This could have significant consequences if you run your own business, with the extension in working years meaning you have to make suitable alterations to business projections. However, if you’ve already retired and claiming a pension then the outlook for 2012 look positive, with next April noting a £5.30 rise per week, offering the older generation £107.45 pre tax pension income per week.
Whilst the pensions market has noted a significant change, the housing market continues to enjoy the 0.5per cent base rate set by the Bank of England 32 months ago. For almost 10m predicted homebuyers, mortgages will note less interest, allowing you to keep more of your monthly income. Compared to four years ago, the average individual spends less than a third of their monthly income on housing loans instead of half, allowing many British individuals to be better off and have more savings in the bank.
Additional positive news has come if you’re looking to gain a foot on the property ladder as 50% discounts will become available for the ‘Right to Buy’ scheme, allowing you the possibility to buy social housing at reduced prices. The proceeds of these sales will then be put towards building new homes in an attempt to bolster the construction and housing markets in 2012, providing more suitable locations for residents to live.
With the government also assessing the need to encourage small businesses, they have also introduced a new ‘no fault dismissal’ process. If you have a company with less than ten staff members it will now be easier to dismiss staff, allowing you to grow your business as you see fit. In addition, you may see the benefits of a new investment scheme whereupon there will be a 50% income tax relief for investors putting money into small and start-up companies. More relief for contractors and business ventures will be the personal tax allowance increase to £8,105, allowing those running small businesses more income without heavy tax rates set upon them.
Whilst the government have no doubt taken steps to create more income to pay off debt, there is positive movement for individuals to further both their business and personal lives and, with more opportunities for purchasing homes and growing small companies, 2012 may be brighter year for all.
13 Dec 2011
Today’s post comes from Project Resource Consultant John Bakewell, a senior member of the commercial team based out of our Birmingham office. He’s agreed to share some valuable insights into the truth of recruitment during the holiday season. Read the rest of this entry »
27 Oct 2011
Many of the job seekers who find work through us do so on a contract or freelance basis and those who do so must make some important decisions regarding how they wish to be paid. Do they stick to traditional PAYE or take an Umbrella or Limited Company option?
To help us answer this question we turned to the contractor services or umbrella companies that we work in partnership with, as they are experts in understanding and advising contractors on the best payment option to suit the indivdual.
In previous posts we featured the response of Bar2 who shed some interesting light on the subject. Today’s post comes to us from OrangeGenie, another of the contractor service companies we work in partnership with. They have provided this excellent matrix to help contractors compare and contrast the various options available to them, trading options are listed along the top and key considerations down the side:
| LIMITED COMPANY | UMBRELLA SOLUTION | SOLE TRADER | AGENCY PAYE | |
|
Employment status |
Limited Company is a separate legal entity to the person forming it | You become an employee of the Umbrella Company and benefit from statutory employment rights such as SSP/ SMP and holiday pay | You have no separate legal identity from your business | You become an employee of the agency and benefit from statutory employment rights such as SSP/ SMP and holiday pay |
|
Taxation implication |
Greater opportunity for tax planning | All tax and NI is deducted before payment with no additional taxes to pay | All monies earned in the tax year will be taxed at the applicable Income Tax Rate | All tax and NI is deducted before payment with no additional taxes to pay |
|
Expenses consideration |
A wide range of expenses can be claimed | Expenses can be claimed in line with the umbrella company’s dispensation agreement with HMRC | A wide range of expenses can be claimed | Generally no expenses can be claimed |
| IR35 status | IR35 Considerations | IR35 is irrelevant | IR35 is relevant | IR35 is irrelevant |
|
Suitability |
Not suitable for short term or low value contracts under £25k per annum and where IR35 applies | Great starting point for first time contractors. Ideal for short term contracts. | Not ideal from a tax perspective long term | Ideal for short term contracts or low valued contracts |
|
Insurances required |
Professional Indemnity Insurance will be required at an additional cost | Professional Indemnity Insurance, employer and public liability insurance is included | Professional Indemnity Insurance will be required at an additional cost | You are typically covered by the insurance policy set up by the Agency organisation. |
|
Salary payment |
You retain complete control of your financial affairs | The Umbrella company collects funds from the client or agency and then pay you and provide you with a payslip | You retain complete control of your financial affairs | The Agency collects your money from the client or agency and then to pay you |
|
Ease of use |
You will need to raise your invoices, record your expenses and arrange to transfer funds to yourself | Very easy to use, simply submit your timesheet and expenses | You will need to raise your invoices, record your expenses and arrange to transfer funds to yourself | Submit your timesheet and wait to be paid. |
21 Oct 2011
With the AWR legislation now live we’re already seeing a shift in behaviour amongst both contract workers and the clients that are taking them on. This post comes from our Umbrella Company partner, Bar 2, who have kindly shared their knowledge with us so that the contractors and employers we work with can operate in the most informed and effective manner possible. Read the rest of this entry »
7 Oct 2011
Speaking ahead of the Conservative Party Conference, which kicked off in Manchester on Wednesday, Mr. Cameron announced plans to change the right to buy scheme introduced by Margaret Thatcher that allows council tenants to buy their homes.
The planned changes are expected to deliver an additional 200,000 homes as well as 400,000 construction jobs. Read the rest of this entry »
6 Oct 2011
Many of the job seekers who find work through us do so on a contract or freelance basis and those who do so must make some important decisions regarding how they wish to be paid. Do they stick to traditional PAYE or take an Umbrella or Limited Company option?
To help us answer this question we turned to the contractor services or umbrella companies that we work in partnership with, as they are experts in understanding and advising contractors on the best payment option to suit the indivdual.
The first response we wanted to share with you comes from Bar2:
If you are new to contracting, then one of the first decisions you need to make is what payment option will suit you best? When you are directly engaged in a permanent role, you have just one payment option available to you; i.e PAYE, where the whole of your income is subject to tax and NI deductions. The situation changes when you enter the world of contracting, rather than having just one choice of payment options, you are faced with choosing between three options which are available to you;
27 Jul 2011
The government is to invest £22bn in UK construction projects over the next 3 years according to cabinet minister Francis Maude.
In his speech at the Construction Procurement Conference, Mr Maude outlined the governments commitment to the investment saying that full details on the figures as well as where and how the money would be invested would be released this Autumn.
It is expected that the biggest beneficiaries of this pledge will include Education, who are expected to receive £4.6bn and highways who will receive £4.3bn including £1.3bn for maintenance and a further £1.7bn for new projects.
In addition, health projects are expecting to see up to £2.2.bn whilst the Home and Communities agency are hoping for £4.3bn to go towards repair work and new construction projects.
Mr Maude said: “The Government’s construction strategy is reducing costs by up to 20% by reforming the way we procure construction projects across all sectors. However, we are still investing billions of pounds annually; with the same money we will procure more schools, hospitals, courts and prisons. Despite an incredibly difficult economic climate we are investing in and prioritizing our construction industry.”
“The Government and the construction industry have a shared obligation to cut waste and find new and better ways of doing business. This is especially important when we are talking about creating first class, modern, fully functioning public service delivery buildings like hospitals and schools.”
At Project Resource we are extremely excited by this planned investment. It is our hope that the increase in public funding, particularly in areas such as healthcare and education will help to increase construction jobs, civil engineering jobs and infrastructure jobs, particularly after government spending cut backs like the scrapping of the BSF scheme.
Full details of the governments strategy can be read here:
http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/government-construction-strategy
20 Jul 2011
At Project Resource we spend a vast amount of time speaking with job seekers about their CVs and one of the most frequent questions we are asked is this; ‘What is it that an employer most looks for in a CV?’
This is often a hard question to answer as different employers often have different opinions as to what is most important when they view CVs; for some it’s the most recently held position, especially if they want to hire someone who can hit the ground running, in other cases they may be most interested in your time with your previous employer.
What do you think an employer looks for first when reviewing your CV? We’d love to hear your thoughts and would invite you to take part in our poll on the left hand side of this page or click here.
For more career advice, please visit our website where you can register for job alerts to receive email updates when we register jobs that match your exact criteria.
22 Jun 2011
In this day and age I’m constantly hearing about social recruiting and the importance of using social media to find work, but it’s not always that easy, knowing what you should be doing doesn’t necessarily help when it comes to knowing HOW to do it.
This time around I wanted to talk to you about Facebook. Whilst many of us use Facebook as part of our personal lives it offers some interesting opportunities for the serious job seeker. Here are some of my top tips for making Facebook an effective job seeker’s tool: Read the rest of this entry »
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