Becoming a contractor programmer in the UK

Post by medwezys » Fri, Jul 31, 2015, 9:19 AM UTC

kozhevnikov wrote: post #12

peteretep wrote: post #8

> You should have savings to cover at least 4 months of > your usual expenses. You will spend some money > establishing a company. It may take several weeks to > find your first contract. If you wanted to be extra safe, sure. I made the switch when I was heavily in debt, and it helped me get out of debt, so YMMV. > A service like www.formationsfactory.co.uk will make the > incorporation process easy. Actually it's su…

> change how dividend tax works Is there a good summary you would recommend for accountancy-challenged developers? Should we get any leftovers in business bank account out through more dividends now and accrue higher personal income tax or wait and see?

Post by UK-AL » Fri, Jul 31, 2015, 9:36 AM UTC

awjr wrote: post #18

CharlesFinley wrote: post #4

The old discussion is now closed. You should be aware that there is no obligation for limited companies to have a business bank account. However, it is usually a good idea to have one. Furthermore, you don't need to be a UK resident to open a business bank account but most banks will not deal with you due to higher costs and fraud concerns. P.S. your company does not require a UK-based bank account. You can open a bu…

You will find some agencies insist on a company bank account.

Post by CodeSimian » Fri, Jul 31, 2015, 9:39 AM UTC

Keats wrote: post #22

peteretep wrote: post #8

> You should have savings to cover at least 4 months of > your usual expenses. You will spend some money > establishing a company. It may take several weeks to > find your first contract. If you wanted to be extra safe, sure. I made the switch when I was heavily in debt, and it helped me get out of debt, so YMMV. > A service like www.formationsfactory.co.uk will make the > incorporation process easy. Actually it's su…

Agree with pretty much everything. Recruiters are annoying but some companies will only hire contractors through recruiters so it's worth spending a little time dealing with them (but don't hesitate to stop talking to any that isn't professional, there are plenty others). For the rate it depends on the language and the industry as well, java in finance is always going to be higher than python in a startup but if it's…

Post by tonyedgecombe » Fri, Jul 31, 2015, 9:43 AM UTC

jacquesm wrote: post #9

batou wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Very true. Also the advice about marketing yourself is crap. Recruiters are the #1 way of landing contracts. They're finders and you're paying a finders fee for that service. They have the big guys with oodles of cash to get hold of. If you can't get a gig through a recruiter then you either don't have skills that are in demand or don't come across as someone who they'd want to sell. If you don't go through the recru…

> If you don't go through the recruiters, you end up being left with the cheap arse companies that won't pay up anyway. I've never used a recruiter, the companies I work for paid pretty good and I had one unpaid bill in a couple of decades. Building your own network and getting rid of recruiters as your main source of income is very important to new contract programmers. For one they take a cut and for another they w…

Post by Keats » Fri, Jul 31, 2015, 9:48 AM UTC

CodeSimian wrote: post #25

Keats wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agree with pretty much everything. Recruiters are annoying but some companies will only hire contractors through recruiters so it's worth spending a little time dealing with them (but don't hesitate to stop talking to any that isn't professional, there are plenty others). For the rate it depends on the language and the industry as well, java in finance is always going to be higher than python in a startup but if it's…

What made you do the switch back to permanent?