The government has been arguing that the actual cost is closer to £13 billion annually, but the IoD employed a different set of calculations.

Taking the quantified hours that company directors and their staff spend each day handling regulation compliance, the IoD then costed that time using remuneration data.

As a result, the business group estimated that the real cost of business regulation is £80 billion a year or the equivalent of 5.7 per cent UK GDP.

The figure takes into account the hours spent form filling, reading guidance, taking advice and performing other administrative duties associated with regulation, but does not include the cost to firms of having to adapt their behaviour to comply with the rules.

According to the IoD, directors are having to invest 13 hours a month on administering regulations.

Business workforces as a whole spend 73 hours a month on regulation and administration, which equates to one member of staff working continuously for five and a half months to complete a business’s annual compliance requirements.

The IoD is calling for a change of culture among government departments and a wholesale review of civil service incentives, job evaluation and career progression.

The business group said that success in the civil service is still defined by getting as many regulations onto the statute book as possible, regardless of the cost.

But the government needs to change attitudes in order to give businesses the freedom to operate; without which change, the IoD added, growth and job creation will be stifled.

Miles Templeman, the IoD’s director general, commented: “£80 billion is effectively being taken out of the UK economy each year due to excessive regulatory paperwork. When the regulatory burden is so large that it typically occupies one employee in every private enterprise in the UK for nearly half a year, it’s obvious we have a problem.”

Mr Templeman continued: “This isn’t a debate about diluting protections, because form filling doesn’t protect anyone. This is about getting a culture change in Whitehall. Officials are incentivised to produce legislation.

“Unless the government changes the way civil servants are evaluated and rewarded, businesses will continue to face a large and ever increasing burden of paper work that hinders them from growing and, ultimately, creating jobs.

There are a number of changes due to come into force on 6 April 2010. Some of the changes tie in with the financial year and so take effect from 1 April. Where that is the case, the earlier enforcement date is indicated.

What follows is a summary, but not an exhaustive list, of the more important new rules with which businesses will need to comply.

The BCC had predicted growth of 2.3 per cent for 2011 but in its latest economic forecast has downgraded that figure to 2.1 per cent.

The business group held to its prediction for GDP expansion of 1 per cent in 2010.

The BCC cited greater “obstacles” to growth as the reason for its revision and warned against the threat of a double-dip recession.

There is, however, better news on the employment front as far as the BCC is concerned.

In the same report, it estimated that unemployment is likely to rise in the next 6-9 months. But the new forecast envisaged total unemployment climbing from 2.46 million to a peak of 2.65 million in the third quarter of 2010. In December, the BCC predicted a slightly higher jobless peak of 2.7 million.

On public borrowing, the BCC said that the Chancellor would be likely to undershoot his predictions for both 2009/10 and 2010/11, with figures of £163 billion and £165 billion respectively compared with Mr Darling’s anticipated £178 billion and £176 billion.

But the BCC questioned the Treasury’s public finance forecasts from 2011 onwards, describing them as “too optimistic”. Whereas the government sees borrowing down to £140 billion for 2011/12, the BCC put the figure at £147 billion.

David Frost, the BCC’s director general, said: “The recession may have technically ended, but there is no room for complacency. For the recovery to be sustained, it is crucial that all the political parties recognise the vital role of wealth-creating businesses in driving economic growth and job creation.”

Mr Frost urged that the Budget be used as a platform for laying the foundations for a business-led recovery, with failure to do so running the risk of a loss of momentum and the possibility of dipping back into recession.

The BCC wants the government to abandon the planned 1 per cent rise in NICs, but to raise VAT to 18.5 per cent instead.

Mr Frost continued: “The vital medium-term reduction in government debt and borrowing should entail curbing public spending in all areas except for key infrastructure expenditure, which will act to boost long-term growth and employment across the country.

“A credible deficit-reduction plan, which both business and the markets can accept as realistic, must avoid stifling the economy’s growth potential, and it absolutely must enable companies to invest and export.”

David Kern, the BCC’s chief economist, added: “The UK’s economic prospects remain uncertain, our recovery is fragile and risks of a relapse are high. Threats of a double-dip recession are greater in the near future than the dangers of higher inflation.”

The UK’s position, Mr Kern pointed out, is not worse than that of many other European economies, and the BCC expects a relatively strong bounce back in Britain’s GDP, driven mainly by stocks and the emergency stimulus packages.

But Mr Kern also argued that such factors are temporary and longer-term growth prospects remain weak.

Mr Kern concluded: “Over the next four or five years, GDP growth is likely to average just under 2 per cent per annum, considerably less than the 2.7 per cent average growth recorded in the period 2003-07. Against this background, it is vital to ensure that wealth-creating businesses have adequate capacity to respond to an upturn in demand when the recovery strengthens.”

Following months in which costs have been pared down, firms, it appears, are now recruiting sales staff and beefing up marketing budgets as a way of combating difficult trading conditions.

The survey, conducted by the Forum of Private Business (FPB), revealed that over half of respondents (56 per cent) are optimistic about the future and expect turnover to grow in 2010.

The research formed part of the first of the FPB’s Economy Watch panels, designed to test the waters of recovery as experienced by smaller firms.

The snapshot picture provided by the survey was upbeat in tone.

Only 13 per cent of respondents are still planning cost-cutting measures, while eight out of ten reported that the cost of borrowing was “affordable”.

However, many businesses still envisage a rocky road to recovery. Six out of ten said they anticipated a rise in business costs this year, and three-quarters expect tax increases.

Thomas Parry, the FPB’s research manager, commented: “We appear to be seeing an upturn in confidence among SMEs and, by investing in sales and marketing strategies, small business owners are showing determination and entrepreneurial flair.”

But Mr Parry warned that much of the optimism was based on the hope of a recovering economy and increased business and consumer confidence.

He continued: “Political, economic and currency stability are all important too, with a proportion of businesses suffering from the weak pound. Also, the difficulty for businesses in terms of planning is indicated by the fact that almost one in five businesses are uncertain about the support they may want in the next month.”

Mr Parry went on to point out that funding may still yet be a serious issue for small firms.

Many businesses have a relatively high level of debt, although the low base rate has made the cost of finance relatively affordable for the time being. However, those firms that described borrowing as affordable also expressed concerns that, when economic growth becomes more sustainable, the cost of credit is likely to increase.

Builds, Manages, Supports and Mentors global matrix teams via Iterative Methods:

Introduction:

With More Than 24 Years Extensive Blue Chip And International Consulting Experience, Across A Variety Of Market Sectors In The UK, Continental Europe, Asia And The USA. He Has Served As Board Level Director, General Management, Technical Management, Multilingual, Business & Technical Strategy Development & Implementation, Business Unit Turnaround, Mergers & Acquisition, Business Transformation & Change Management, Resource Management, Offshore Team Engagement, Development And Deployment, M & A, Business Integration & Restructuring, Cost Reduction, Information Systems Strategy, IT And Business Process Outsourcing, Off shoring And Applications Management. Led Over 27 Engagements Covering: Corporate Governance; Pre And Post Sales Support, Commercial Reviews, Customer Relationship Management (CRM).; Implementations Management, Program, Delivery, Risk, Service Level & Vendors [SSLM] Management,; Post Project Implementation Reviews And Procurement; Staff Mentoring And Development. Extensive Experience In Complex Global Organizations; Attuned To International Cultural, Legal And Commercial Sensitivities.

Summary:

Program Director / Manager, with a Financial, IT and Business background wholly dedicated to implementation, delivery and completion of corporate Turnaround, Change, Transformation, and Operations Recovery:-

• Strong and driven leader with significant experience in corporate strategy and business development, performance improvement and turnarounds, M&A, large scale project management, division operations and business start ups.

• Transformational experience in strategy development and implementation, carve outs, 100 day plan execution, stakeholder management, post merger integrations, cultural changes, organizational development and management coaching – Proven expert in managing multiple stakeholders at all levels of the organization.

Recent Highlights of Accomplishments:

• Scaled the business up and out and lowered operational costs by off shoring and outsourcing development
• Managed a dispersed Global virtual team, ensuring that training / support was provided so similar methods and practices were adopted by all work streams in a (Hyper organization) multi – cultural diverse resource pool.                                                                                                     
• Established the programme governance structure and provided “hands on” management of the full end to end life cycle of the programme; requirement definition, RFI/RFP process and through to solution design development and implementation.

Areas of Expertise:                                                                          KEY SKILLS:                                                                                     

• Program & Project Management.                                          Presentation & Communication.
• Business & Project Recovery/Reviews                                 Stakeholder Management
• Strategic Planning                                                                       Increasing Ownership & Staff Motivation
• Business & It Outsourcing /Off Shoring.                              Mentoring & Coaching Staff.
• Business Process Reengineering.                                            Structured Disciplines & Practices.
• Resource Management                                                  Team Leadership
• Business Integration (M&A).                                                   Building Teams (Including Virtual).
• Strategy Implementation                                                      Performance Monitoring
• Influencing / Negotiation                                               Troubleshooting
• Budgetary Controls                                                       Proactive And Results-Driven Professional
• Contractual/Commercial Management                                Completer & Finisher.

Managed uncertainty and adapted the program, portfolio or project where required.

FRA / Cap Gemini:                                             Program bid lead                                           Feb 2009 –Dec 2009

Designed delivered a strategy detaining approaches to realise efficiencies by restructuring a clients organisations.

Deal Program offering covered by a Non disclosure agreement.

Experian:                           Program Director – Head of Practice Pool                          April 2008 – October 2008

Business Context: Successfully setup / managed and delivered significant programs & projects work stream / portfolio and business change projects to outsourced and off shored transformation to hyper organization, delivered major step changes to the business within a business change program,

Scope of Role: Took prime responsibility for identifying, quantifying, planning and controlling all business related activity on a business change transformation program and all specialist Change Management activity on the business change program, Main Accountabilities and approximate time split Operating in accordance with the requirements of the Group & Change Governance Framework and mandated Project Management Methods and Tools (Prince 2, MSP,ITIL,AGILE, management of both on/off shore developers using Waterfall and Change First as relevant). 

Responsibilities /Achievements:

ü  Prepared and implemented 100 day plan for execution of support by reorganizing the finance, supply chain and Information services delivery.

ü  SETUP (PMO) Program Management Office

ü  Directed delivery programs and 35 project managers and 5 support staff onshore & 250 offshore.

ü  Developing, maintaining and managing the project/program’s communications and stakeholder strategies and plans (including key messages and content of project/program communications, and overseeing the production of all project/program communications).

ü  Proven to be competent with advanced budget control skills programs from 10k – 60 million GBP

ü  Proven expert with planning, monitoring and reporting

ü  Improved Pricing and Deal Management within B2B arena

ü  Proven expert in detecting and resolving problems

ü  Line Managed selected individuals within the Business Change Delivery Resource pool, including Performance Management, Interim and Annual Reviews, Personal and Professional Development needs.

Cap Gemini (Airbus Europe):                   Transformation Director                 September 2007 – 29th Feb 2008

Business Context: Contributed to strategic differentiation and growth, effectively connecting IT’s capabilities with the particular needs and requirements of the business model, ensured that the IT organizations, processes and priorities were appropriately aligned with the businesses to meet these ever-changing demands and strategies

Scope of Role: Executive Management & Client Advisor of day to day operations, Strategy planning, transition path, gap analysis and implementation & adherence of best practices & governance frameworks

Responsibilities /Achievements:

ü  Management of departments 120 / suffering from serious lack of controls and reporting, often made worse by the absence of a cohesive team

ü  Addressing business critical issues in the adverse conditions typical of the above.

ü  Expert knowledge of programme and project lifecycle, artefacts and techniques,

ü  Good / expert knowledge of structured project methodologies

ü  Proven expert in identifying potential sources of risk and their impact on project success

ü  Expertise knowledge of sources of program / project complexity

ü  Expertise in the design, development and implementation of large scale business transformation strategies, with specific knowledge of process re-engineering, accelerated solutions development and successfully managing cost reduction programs, Identified key system / product / customer requirements.

ü  Demonstrated a good understanding of the strategic vision of the Business and can correlate why the program was required with the Business strategic direction drew from a range of influencing strategies to persuade people to achieve agreement or behavioral change. 

Troux Technologies:                                        Program Manager                                        May 2007 – Sept 2007

Business Context: Strategic IT planning (SITP) ERP software that helps IT departments accelerate Business and IT transformation.

Scope of Role: Managed globally diverse resources, virtual teams and offshore software development facilities to successful delivery of large software and hardware platform, Business and IT Transformation programs.

Responsibilities /Achievements:

ü  Led in-house and partner (on- and offshore) 250 resources.

ü  Responsible for developing service lines/propositions and associated methods/techniques including; organizational change management, cost reduction, performance improvement and strategic planning.

ü  Responsible for leading a team of over 100+ staff and introducing common program/project management disciplines, alongside IT/Process reengineering techniques.

ü  Developed and delivered standardized pricing tools,  IT cost reduction

BRITISH TELECOM:                       Program Director – Head of Practice Pool             12 Months – April 2007

Business Context: Business Engagement & IT/IS Strategy & Implementation program to establish ‘Open reach corporation’ brand and raise public and corporate online profile. Delivered, web-based projects, B2B, B2C & C2C.

Scope of Role: Setup, Maintained the overall program plans in liaison with the Delivery and Project Managers – flexing the plan to ensure delivery of business changes needed to realize benefits

Responsibilities /Achievements:

ü  Led in-house and partner (on- and offshore) resources.8 program managers, 8 project managers and 5 support staff onshore plus 250 offshore developers

ü  SETUP Program Management Office (PMO),

ü  Set up governance structure & control frameworks

ü  Ensure clarity of requirements, and program scope

ü  Set up kick off meeting with appropriate resource to gain understanding of implications

ü  Considered and proposed alternative delivery approaches (e.g. functionality by impacted system, offshore development, Test strategy)

ü  Chaired program meetings

ü  Monitored performance to ensure the program / project meets the agreed plan and reports to the FM&T Corporate Program Management Office (CPMO) on status, initiating management actions in response to the delivery and risk position.

Littlewoods:            Retail                        Program Director /Manager                              15 Months – May 2006

Business Context: Business integration program of two large retail organizations, Program budget of £250M and benefit realization plan of over £300M sustainable savings.

Scope of Role: Set the overall business integration strategy and program governance structure reporting directly to the CEO. Mobilized a team of 200+ staff in fully integrating all aspects of the two businesses from Head Office functions, Marketing, Call Centers, Procurement, Logistics and Financial Services functions

Responsibilities /Achievements:

ü  Led business optimization, re-integration of businesses through absorption, impact mitigation and transitional change management.

ü  Successful track record of delivering value through hands on management of implementing major client change programs in the UK and Internationally.

ü  Led transformation program; minimized disruption to customers; orchestrated back (billing, purchasing, finance and legal) and front (technical support, marketing, product development, purchasing and pricing).

PAST ASSIGNMENTS:                                                                                                                                Duration:

VODAFONE: Program Manager, 2.5 Mobile deployment & 3G data cards development                                               4 Months

DEPT OF HEALTH: Program Manager, Arm Length Body, (QUANGO) Merger and restructure                                3 Months

DEUTCH POST BANK: Program Manager, Corporate re organizing & Integration, People, Processes & Systems     4 Months

GLAXO SMITH KLINE: Program Manager, SAP UPGRADE, MM,SD & BUSINESS CHANGE.                            4 Months             

BRITISH PETROLIUM: Program Manager, MULTIPLE M&A, Integrations, SAP/ERP & Data Centre Builds.          3 Years

GENERAL MOTORS: Program Manager, de-mergers, divestitures, transition and cultural change                              8 Months             

ALCATEL: Program Manager, MULTIPLE GLOBAL PROGRAMS, SDH/PDH/ATM/WDM/FIBRE/MOBILE      11 Months             

NORTEL NETWORKS: Program Manager, POP, Mobile ,VOICE AND DATA NETWORK BUILDS                       9 Months             

CABLE & WIRELESS: Program Manager, Various National ICT Programs, Mobile, Fixed line, POP                      11 Months             

ERNST & YOUNG: Program Manager, Business Change, IT program, LAN,WAN & MAN networks                        9 Months             

CITIBANK: Senior Project Manager, GLOBAL TRADING – CAPITAL MARKETS, Debt & Equity                         4 Years

Synopsis of skills, knowledge and experience:

ü  Committed Independent Turnaround Executive with specific skills in working with companies in the unique circumstances of financial distress

ü  Management of departments suffering from serious lack of financial control and reporting, often made worse by the absence of a cohesive financial team

ü  Addressing business critical issues in the adverse conditions typical of the above.

ü  Experienced in business recovery, financial restructuring, Business model redesign and optimization, solvency considerations and business disposals

ü  Expert knowledge of program and project lifecycle, artifacts and techniques

ü  Expert knowledge of sources of project complexity

ü  Proven expert in managing multiple stakeholders at all levels of the organization

ü  Proven to be competent with advanced budget control skills

ü  Proven expert with planning, monitoring and reporting

ü  Proven expert in detecting and resolving problems

ü  Significant communication (verbal, written, listening) skills

Professional Affiliations, Qualifications and Accreditations:                    PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT:

• Ph.D. Business Finance and Commerce                                      Education: Canterbury University
• MBA, Business, Human Resources & Marketing                                                                                      
• MSC, Science and Computers  
• GSM, 3 G/ UMTS Mobile Telephone systems
• GSM, 3 G/ UMTS Air interface
• IN – SS7 – C7 technologies  (Intelligent Hybrid networks)                                                                               
• Member of Institute of Directors;
• MSP Certification
• Member of Project Managers Institute
• PMP Certification
• PRINCE2™ Certification
• ITIL®: Certification
• Advanced Training: Change, Risk, Quality and Financial Management; Contract Negotiation.

Personal Details:

Full driving license, All Groups.

Address: Enterprise House, 21 Buckle Street, London, E1 8NN, United Kingdom.            Available: 08/03/2010

Security Cleared: Basic Disclosure No: 110100035844061.              Email: drcarter@flexibleresources.co.uk

Languages: Native English Speaker, Business French and Basic Russian.

VISAS:  Accredited to work in EU and Russia.

                                                                            Referees supplied upon request                                                          

Use husband and wife companies
A taxpayer operating a business can allow their spouse to have (for example) 50% of the shares regardless of their involvement in the business. The new 50% band simply extends the advantage of such arrangements, as well as more straightforward ones such as transferring income-producing capital to a lower earning spouse.
Warning: It is imperative that such arrangements are set up correctly, otherwise they will fail. Also, be warned that this option may be short-lived as the Government wants to block it.

Bring forward the payment of dividends and bonuses
Clearly, you will benefit by accelerating the payment of any dividends from your own company to pre 6 April 2010. Some commentators have extended this idea to paying, for example, three years’ salary in return for the employee waiving rights to salary for the same period.
Warning: Although the “accelerated salary” will work, it is fraught with potential danger and, in the view of CBW, should only be used for family companies.

Executive remuneration – convert income to capital
Next year, the difference between income tax (up to 50%) and Capital Gains Tax (up to 18%) will be greater than ever and hence the growing attraction of converting income to capital, especially
in the field of executive remuneration (ie the use of share options and similar).
Warning: The legislation in the area of employee incentives is highly complex and requires professional advice. Other “conversion” techniques are subject to the imposition of longstanding and byzantine anti-avoidance legislation. Tread with caution!

Close bank accounts
Interest on bank deposits is paid at regular intervals, sometimes annually. If a significant interest payment is due in, say, May, the only sensible way of accelerating this is likely to be by way of closing the account.

Warning: Check the banks’ penalties.

Change accounting periods
If you run an unincorporated business, a change of accounting date can have the effect of accelerating profits into 2009/10.
Warning: The rules dealing with this are complex and often have unexpected effects. Take professional advice.

about 300,000 people face the prospect of paying an average of £20,000 in extra tax each year.

For many of those who earn more than £150,000 a year, the biggest change will be to the taxation of their pension contributions from 2011.

The widespread view among pension advisors is that all the changes taken together will have a big unwanted knock-on effect on ordinary pension scheme members too, not just the highest paid who are being targeted by the government.

“This may accelerate the closure of final salary pension schemes,” says Tom McPhail of investment advisors Hargreaves Lansdown.

“It will undermine the alignment of interest between the higher paid staff, who are usually in charge of pay and pension policy at employers, and the other scheme members,” he says.

Who will pay?

Higher paid taxpayers who make pension contributions, or who receive them from an employer, now need to ask themselves some questions.

If their total incomes are below £130,000 then they fall outside the scope of these new pension tax rules completely.

If their incomes are £130,000 or more, they need to add on the value of their employer’s contributions.

If that total, known for these purposes as “gross income”, is £150,000 and over then the new system kicks in.

Pension tax relief on their own contributions will be tapered down from 50% at £150,000 per year to just the basic rate of 20% once their income reaches £180,000 or more.

For individuals in this position it will generate a retrospective tax charge of up to 30% on those contributions for the past year.

The additional and very dramatic change in tax policy is that income tax will also be levied on the value of their employer’s contributions, also at a rate of up to 30%.

he size of the eventual bill could come as a big surprise.

“You can be blissfully throwing money into your pension scheme and then later realise you have won the opportunity to write the Revenue a cheque,” says John Whiting of the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT).

“This is absurdly complex to achieve what they want.”

Final-salary schemes

If someone is a member of a defined contribution pension scheme it will be easy for their scheme administrator to add up just how much money the employer paid in during the particular tax year and tell the taxpayer.

But the situation is different and much more complicated in traditional final-salary schemes.

Here the actual contributions can be measured easily too, but that will not be the information required to fill in a self-assessment tax form.

That is because the value of the eventual pension will have been ratcheted up, partly as a result of someone paying in for one more year, but mainly because of the effect of any pay rises.

These will increase the member’s final pensionable salary and hence their pension too, far beyond the mere value of the extra cash contributions.

The Government Actuary’s Department has come up with three possible methods of measuring this, and the government favours one of them.

In this preferred version, a pension scheme administrator will have to use a scale of factors, adjusted for age and normal retirement age, and apply them to the increase in someone’s prospective pension.

This will generate an estimate of the cash sum needed to buy the increase in pension that has been accrued in the past year.

That is the figure individuals will use for their tax returns.

It will be a particularly big sum for staff close to retirement, especially if they are given a large pay rise.

“I’ll be surprised if anyone pays tax at that level,” says Bhargaw Buddhdev at the actuaries Barnett Waddingham.

“We will be advising clients not to stay in a scheme until they are 64 – I’d advise them to opt out and get some sort of cash benefit instead, as it will not longer be tax efficient to take pension contributions.

“The simplest option is just to take a pay rise instead and invest it for yourself,” Mr Buddhdev says.

‘Too big’

It is worth noting that a crude form of the new pension tax regime has already come into force.

They are clearly anticipating that some bills will be too big for some people to pay Andrew Meeson, ATT

This is because of the “anti-forestalling” regulations, aimed at stopping people from stuffing their pension schemes with extra cash to gain the benefit of the enhanced tax relief before it gets taken away in 2011.

What is someone do with all the extra tax information they receive, apart from gulp?

On the face if it the answer is simple: fill in the annual self-assessment tax form.

But this will now be even more of a chore than before, containing more boxes, pages and guidance forms.

Some experts think many people earning more than £150,000 a year will simply give up making pension contributions.

“It’s not just the manner in which the charge is worked out for final salary schemes, which is a deterrent to people making pension provision close to retirement,” says Andrew Meeson of the Association of Taxation Technicians (ATT).

“The very existence of the charge is a deterrent, and just as much for money-purchase schemes.”

If the tax charge is more than £15,000, tax payers will have some options.

Instead of paying up in one go, they may be able to spread the payment over three years.

Or they could ask their pension scheme to pay the charge in exchange for a reduction in their pension pot or accrued pension entitlement.

“They are clearly anticipating that some bills will be too big for some people to pay,”

Mr Justice Parker rejected claims on behalf of the taxpayer that the backdating of Section 55 of the Finance Act breached human rights.

His court also refused an appeal, paving the way for HM Revenue & Customs to pursue the taxpayer, Robert Huitson, and thousands like him.

The ruling has set a dangerous precedent that could result in HMRC applying retrospective taxation to other groups of contractors, as well as other taxpayers, who use tax mitigation schemes.

Much of this case rested on the seven year period of inaction by HMRC, however the judge appeared to be of the view that HMRC’s actions were proportionate while taxpayers utilising a BN66 scheme knew the associated risks.

Chartered Institute of Taxation’s John Whiting, said: “I think all tax practitioners will worry a bit about this judgement if it is seen as opening the door to retrospection. This judgement is of concern to all because tax systems should aim to give certainty. Retrospection is inherently unfair, creates uncertainty and risks damaging trust in the system.”

“However, if such tactical calculations were made, taxpayers simply ran the risk that at some point parliament might legislate to put the matter beyond doubt, and might well do so…retrospectively”.

The landmark case was the very first time that a judge had backed the retrospective element of BN66 and has left a great many contractors disappointed, many now face large retrospective tax bills. It’s almost certain that there will be more challenges to BN66 and the UK governments ability to penalise people under new tax legislation retrospectively.

Montpelier, the provider of the scheme which Huitson used, has vowed to appeal the decision, though such an appeal will take time before it is heard by a higher authority.

Despite staff reductions, a company must continue to produce if it is to survive long term.

Contingent staffing is a logical way to get the work done—and keep headcount and associated employment costs such as taxes and benefits down.