Behind the Scenes with an Umbrella Company Managing Director

Contractor Supermarket talks to Ky Smith, Managing Director of GoUmbrella, who discusses quite openly his company's hopes, plans and ambitions for the future.

In this, ever-changing and often turbulent time for the industry, Smith remains both upbeat & resolute while firmly believing the future is rosy for those umbrella companies who play it by the book.

Why did you start an umbrella company in what is becoming a crowded market?

Ky Smith:"GoUmbrella was born out of a collaboration of interest from myself and colleagues already working in the industry. We knew what people expected from an umbrella company, so our objective was to give them just that:

• A fully inclusive, cost effective, compliant umbrella company service."

Is there a particular gap in the market you are filling which you believe the other umbrella companies are missing?

Ky Smith: I'm not sure we are filling any particular gap; we pride ourselves on compliance and provide a range of additional benefits to our employees which many of the other umbrella companies do not currently offer.

How easy is it to train and motivate your staff to maintain the senior management's objectives? What, to you, is the key factor?

Ky Smith: It's not just about salary and employee benefits; we communicate

• a vision of what the business stands for
• our work ethos
• and where we want the company to be in the future.

The work is challenging with a variety of tasks. We have established a friendly work environment and implement flexible working practices.

Mutual respect is key and we delegate tasks to allow others to take responsibility where we can, which seems to work well in our experience.

How do you view the changing state of the industry?

Ky Smith: I think that the introduction of the legislation regarding MSC's was a good start. Let's face it, weekly dividend payments were pretty contentious.

It would be nice if the whole umbrella company market place was to tidy its act up. It's always been tarnished by the few umbrella companies abusing their dispensations and openly encouraging individuals to claim expenses they simply have not incurred.

• Unfortunately I do not see this changing whilst there are certain recruitment consultants and agencies in the market place that hunger for their kick backs, referral incentives and profit sharing arrangements and who will continue to highlight the services of such umbrella companies purely for their own financial gain and not in the interest of the contractor.

Any views on the self-appointed regulatory companies in the industry?

Ky Smith: I think that an audit process could be good; although from my perspective unless this is something HMRC introduce themselves then the focus will be lost when the large pound note signs start flashing, before you even get a chance to digest the criteria of any proposed accreditation you could achieve as a result.

• It's very easy to pay for accreditation, but it's a lot harder to actually earn it.

What systems do you have in place to make your contractor clients' life more simple? Do you think the umbrella company route is best for everyone?

Ky Smith: Interaction from our current client base is via telephone, but predominantly via e-mail and through our online systems. Most of our employees are based in IT roles so it's second nature for them to use e-mail rather than some of the more conventional methods.

We constantly monitor our processes in order to improve service levels and minimise any potential rise for issues, thus ensuring a high quality of service for our employees at all times. All personally identifiable information is safely stored on our secure servers and backed up daily. We rarely ever receive complaints, we do however take any complaints very seriously.

Of course operating one's own limited company can be very satisfying and rewarding, particularly for the higher earning individuals whose contracts are outside IR35; however for

• first time contractors
• lower earning individuals
• people looking for a quick start up in the contracting world or
• simply wanting to reduce their administration burden

the umbrella company comes into its own.

How do you see the industry developing over the coming years? Where is GoUmbrella headed?

Ky Smith: If the industry is rid of all the unscrupulous operators I can see a healthy long-term place in the contracting market for umbrella companies; but whilst such (unscrupulous) operators continue to exist and conduct their business in underhand and misleading ways, it will just continue to have a negative effect on the rest of the industry who do have a genuine vested interest in their working practices and the safety of their employees.

The requirement for a level playing field is long over-due. Once this has been achieved and there is no ambiguous legislation, that is open to abuse or misinterpretation, it will soon sort the wheat from the chaff.

• Expansion is always something we are pro-active about, and so continually look at ways in which we can streamline our processes and improve our systems.
• We will continue to offer a cost effective flexible and fully inclusive umbrella company service to contractors with the focus fully on compliance.