Umbrella company contractors will no doubt be interested to learn that more people in the UK are now working flexibly.

The government’s temporary immigration cap is harming the social work profession according to recent reports in the media. In July, the government imposed a limit of 24,100 skilled workers from non EU countries entering the UK and a permanent immigration cap will be in place next year.

Young umbrella company contractors need to be encouraged to save for their retirement, but in order to make the prospect appealing, the UK pensions industry need to undergo radical reform, according to George Ladds from the Fair Investment Company.

The BBC was recently told by HMRC whistleblowers that the Revenue has been instructed not to chase a lot of underpayment cases that are over two years old and which could be open to a legal challenge; a claim that has been strongly denied by an HMRC spokesman.

New research shows that small businesses, recruiters and umbrella companies in the north have less chance of obtaining business loans than their counterparts in the south.

Umbrella company contractors will be pleased to hear that the first two quarters of this year saw a 9% increase in the use of interim managers, according to the latest Ipsos MORI survey findings, and 52% of all interim assignments were in the private sector.

A fivefold increase in prosecutions against tax evaders could see HMRC bringing 800 people a year to court. In the year to September 30 2009, the Revenue brought 157 prosecutions against individuals.

The FSB is asking the government to do more to encourage competition in the banking sector. There have been concerns that the current lack of competition could lead us back into recession.

Rather than reversing the trend for late payments, a new directive from the EU could actually make matters worse, according to the FPB.

It was recently reported that many people are not prepared for the day to day financial changes that take place on retirement and one reason for this could be that we simply do not believe that 65 is old.

Any contractors currently at work in the UK as either limited companies or sole traders may be interested in a new series of figures recently published by HM Revenue & Customs.

New data released recently by the Office for National Statistics illustrate that the current rates of unemployment in the country have dropped by an additional 8,000 people for the months of May, June, and July.