According to some reports, there are as many as 100,000 umbrella company workers who are predominately based in an office environment, and these are the very people who are set to benefit from a new group established by the REC.

According to recent reports in the financial media, Britain’s banks are now approving 80% of small business loan applications, which should come as good news to limited company contractors and sole traders.

The market for outsourced IT services is set grow significantly over the coming years, and this should mean good news for small businesses, limited company contractors and umbrella company workers in the UK.

Despite the recession, many freelance professionals and IT contractors want to work abroad to advance their career, according to Hydrogen, the international staffing firm.

In my world, the term “self employed umbrella company” is a tad paradoxical. After all, a traditional PAYE umbrella employs their workers and provides (or should provide) the various benefits commensurate with employment.

According to data published by the Society of Professional Accountants, as many as 1 in 5 PAYE tax code notices issued by HMRC since the start of the year could be wrong.

Contractors, recruiters and umbrella companies across the country would have been pleased by the official growth rate figures, released yesterday. According to the Office of National Statistics (ONS), the UK Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 0.2% during the first quarter of 2010.

The REC’s ‘On The Road’ tour has been set-up as part of an on-going plan by the REC to better educate it’s members about the issues facing recruitment in this country, and how they can prepare themselves for the challenges that lie ahead.

The FSB recently conducted a survey of more than 1,400 of its members and found that 63% of small businesses, including recruitment agencies and umbrella companies, do not plan to increase their workforce over the coming 3 months.

The REC has had to postpone an upcoming workshop about improved recruitment practices in the public sector due to the flight disruption caused by the Icelandic volcano, Eyjafjallajökull.

The CIPD has predicted that half a million jobs could be cut in the public sector over the next 5 years. This could be potentially damaging to the umbrella company industry, since many workers reside in this sector.

According to new research by reThink Recruitment, pay rates for IT contractors in the north of the country are increasing more than three times quicker than the rates for equivalent contractors in the south.