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Contractor UK is home to the UK's IT contracting community. Online since 1999, offering daily news & guides, contract jobs, rates, calculators & an active forum

[ContractorUK @itcontracting]

For years, contractors caught up in the loan charge have been fighting HMRC.

Now some are fighting someone else entirely.

Since April 2026, letters have been arriving at contractors' doors. Not from HMRC. From a private company called West 28th Street Limited, demanding repayment of the original loans, on top of whatever is already owed to the taxman.

We wanted to know who was behind it. So, we asked investigative journalist Firgas Esack and Lottie Hutchins to find out.

They traced a corporate trail through more than 30 companies spanning the UK, Isle of Man and Malta. They found dissolved companies, disqualified directors, multi-million-pound balance sheets with no staff, and a chain of loan book transfers that the public record still cannot fully explain.

The question at the heart of it is simple. The answer, it turns out, is anything but.

Who owns the loans?

If you've received a letter from West 28th Street Limited, or know someone who has, this is essential reading.

Our investigation is live now.

🔗 https://t.co/Rf7ego7wPL

[ContractorUK @itcontracting]

Contractors already get hired for the outcome, not the permanent job.

More businesses are buying tech leadership the same way.

A full-time CTO in London can cost £310,000 plus equity. So scale-ups and AI firms are bringing senior tech leaders in for the role: an AI roadmap, a cyber audit, a migration. Not always for the permanent seat.

Jonathan Buckley of Robert Walters on who is hiring, and when it is a natural next step for IT contractors:

https://t.co/BoB1dCApdc

[ContractorUK @itcontracting]

The UK IT contractor market isn’t shrinking.

It’s getting much more selective.

Demand hasn’t disappeared. It’s narrowed onto specialists who can deliver complex transformation.

That selectivity is showing up in how clients hire too, with more weight on Statement of Work and outcome-based delivery, not just traditional day-rate cover.

Nicholas Tsappis, global head of technology business at SThree, sets out what’s still pulling in work, and which contractors are best placed as clients get pickier:

https://t.co/FW0SuCh5KL

[ContractorUK @itcontracting]

How contractors get paid inside IR35 is changing in 2026.

That doesn’t mean umbrella is going anywhere.

There’s a real shift in how agencies are engaging hourly and shift-based workers, especially in healthcare, education, logistics, driving and construction.
What’s risen is use of a different PAYE model (PEO), not a mass move away from umbrella for most professional contractors.

So what’s actually driving the shift, if it isn’t a rebrand?

Ashley Olliver, a director at Parasol, sets out what’s behind it, and what to keep an eye on:

https://t.co/Xzw7uswSvY

[ContractorUK @itcontracting]

Outside IR35 roles are up in 2026.

That doesn’t mean jobs are moving from inside to outside.

There’s more outside work in the market, but Reed isn’t seeing a big shift of roles flipping status. What’s risen is the number of outside IR35 engagements, not a migration away from inside IR35.

So what’s actually driving the increase, if it isn’t a comeback?

Kelly Macey, head of technology contract and contingent IT workforce at Reed, sets out what’s behind it, and why outside still isn’t becoming the default:

https://t.co/kdyBhznvvQ

[ContractorUK @itcontracting]

Fewer than 1 in 5 self-employed people now save into a pension. When you go contracting, you have no employer to set one up for you.

One contractor put it best. Years into contracting, living fast and spending faster, they finally checked their pension pot: £10,000, all of it from an old permanent job. Their advice was simple. The best time to invest was ten years ago, the second best time is today.

Lottie Hutchins asked 278 contractors when they finally started, what they actually pay in each month, and what made them get round to it.

This article is the first with our new pensions partner, interactive investor. Craig Rickman, ii's personal finance editor, sets out the most tax-efficient ways in, plus a simple rule of thumb for how much is enough.

Read the full article on ContractorUK:
https://t.co/7XWNLxFxtF

[ContractorUK @itcontracting]

HMRC's loan charge settlement offers are landing. Only sign when you're certain of the figures.

In one worked example, a contractor's untaxed income was estimated at £11,000. The realistic figure, with payslips and rate evidence, was closer to £3,000.

The first letters arrived last week, ahead of the regulations coming into force on August 5th. Once signed, the offer is legally binding, and can only be unwound in very limited circumstances.

If HMRC doesn't know what you were actually paid, it estimates using what other workers in the same scheme received. Those estimates can be challenged, and even a £0 offer isn't the end of the story.

Meredith McCammond, technical officer at LITRG, sets out three things to check before you sign: the formalities, HMRC's simplified calculations, and how to put a better figure to the taxman.

Read the full article on ContractorUK:
https://t.co/CsNKv04eJ1

[ContractorUK @itcontracting]

Friday is HMRC's second Payments on Account deadline, and today is realistically the last day to get your figures to your accountant.

No penalty lands on August 1st, but interest starts immediately, and unpaid POAs can tip into penalty territory by January 2027.

Lauren Monks of Dolan Accountancy explains what limited company contractors need to do before July 31st: how POAs are calculated, who they catch, and when a reduction is worth applying for.

And this could all be about to change. A live HMRC consultation proposes scrapping the January/July split entirely, merging POAs into monthly payments from April 2029, with up to 12 installments a year forecast from your past returns. Contractors have until August 4th to have their say.

Read the full guide on ContractorUK: https://t.co/tYsDdbJj3L

[ContractorUK @itcontracting]

Andy Burnham's first week: cheaper bus fares and VAT off energy bills. Not what contractors are waiting for.

Starmer's 174-seat landslide didn't protect him, and Burnham knows how fast the clock runs down. The first 100 days are the real test.

IPSE's head of policy and research Josh Toovey sets out the five things contractors need from the new PM.

Among them: reversing the employer NICs rise that has clients shelving contractor hiring, and finally publishing the employment status review, which is drafted, we hear, but seemingly held back by the transition.

Deliver all five, and "business-friendly" becomes more than rhetoric.

https://t.co/KZcaaM8LlB

[ContractorUK @itcontracting]

Out with the old, in with the new. Labour has replaced Starmer with Burnham, swapping one idea of what's wrong with British housing for a completely different one.

One fixes how homes are bought. The other rewrites who gets to own one.

Starmer's answer was faster, digital, and harder for chains to collapse. That part is confirmed policy, and the government claims it'll save first-time buyers up to £650 and four weeks.

Burnham wants the rewrite: £40bn for council homes, a lower mansion tax threshold, possibly replacing council tax and stamp duty with an annual property tax. None of it is official policy yet.

But whether homebuying gets fixed or ownership gets rewritten, one thing stays the same: what makes a contractor mortgage application strong. Day rate, retained profits, and a lender who knows how to read both.

John Yerou, founder and CEO of contractor mortgage broker Freelancer Financials, separates what's confirmed from what's speculation, and explains why waiting for Burnham to show his hand is the one move that doesn't pay.

https://t.co/CWrhoPL1VB

[ContractorUK @itcontracting]

The government now wants to tax you on money you haven't earned yet. But why?

HMRC is consulting on collecting tax monthly from the self-employed, with each bill based on last year's return, chopped into twelve. Last year's numbers, this year's bill, no matter what this month actually looks like.

One freelancer told us she could technically handle it. She'd just rather not spend her life doing it. Because when clients treat 30-day payment terms as a suggestion, no two months look the same.

And that's the real story here. This isn't a tax problem, it's a cash flow problem. The self-employed already spend half their lives chasing payment for work they've already done. It's not unheard of for contractors to take out short-term loans to plan around slow payers. But borrowing to pay a tax bill? For many, that will be a step too far.

Lottie ㅤHutchins writes for ContractorUK on HMRC's plans, and speaks to a freelancer abroad who already lives under this exact system. She likes it. But her country offers one safety net HMRC's proposal doesn't.

The consultation closes on 4 August. That's three weeks to tell HMRC how self-employed income actually arrives.

We already have to pay tax on every pound we earn. Just let us earn it first.

https://t.co/tfAhLMCyY0

[ContractorUK @itcontracting]

Andy Burnham is now prime minister. Past the headlines, what does this actually mean for contractors?

Five reported tech policies are already set to shape his strategy for the UK IT sector and its contractors.

Among the five: Digital ID gone, and an AI strategy that puts the UK first.

Yet the loudest thing is a silence: no commitment to reversing the employer NICs increase that end-clients blame for their subdued contractor hiring.

With Keir Starmer and his 25 U-turns out the door, all we can do now is watch and see whether Burnham actually delivers on what he sets out in the days ahead.

Read the full article on ContractorUK
https://t.co/35jgw3eUb1

[ContractorUK @itcontracting]

Could zero-hours reform end up over-policing contracting?

That's the paradox: rules designed to protect vulnerable workers could end up making the wider contractor market less flexible.

The Fair Work Agency is already preparing to enforce zero-hours reforms, with proposed fines of up to £20,000 per worker for missed short-notice shift payments. Meanwhile, the government is consulting on proposals that could, in some circumstances, see umbrella companies become responsible for offering guaranteed hours.

Chris Bloor, Compliance Director at Sapphire, writes exclusively for ContractorUK on what the Fair Work Agency's chair revealed at the FCSA Forum, why the message on the zero-hours consultation is "respond, respond, respond", and why compliance is becoming a continuous discipline.

Read the full article on ContractorUK: https://t.co/TID0sUzGMS

[ContractorUK @itcontracting]

Looking for an outside IR35 role? We know the struggle. On ContractorUK you can filter by IR35 status, compare day rates and bookmark roles to revisit later.

Less noise. More roles that actually work for you.

https://t.co/0EuL9L7ldD

[ContractorUK @itcontracting]

Whilst dodgy umbrella promotion may finally be reaching the end of the road, fraud is only just showing off its latest schemes to catch out contractors.

The latest? Cloning. Fraudsters are impersonating reputable umbrellas by faking their documentation and even claiming their industry accreditations to appear credible to agencies and contractors.

The bigger question raised? Why it's so easy to set up a fake company in the first place, when the named "director" behind the clone has almost no online footprint at all.

Lucy Smith, founder of Clarity Umbrella Ltd, writes exclusively for ContractorUK on her own experience getting cloned, why JSL may be fueling it, and why Companies House needs to get serious, cracking down on these fraudulent companies.

Read the full article on ContractorUK: https://t.co/2Hms3XEfU3

[ContractorUK @itcontracting]

100 days of JSL, and the mass umbrella cull everyone braced for hasn't happened. Something quieter, and arguably more important, has.

Compliance is genuinely moving in the right direction. But JSL hasn't cleansed the market of operators willing to cut corners.

As the big agencies and MSPs tighten up, those operators are simply drifting down the supply chain to less experienced, less diligent agencies that often don't even realise JSL applies to them. That's where the real exposure now sits, on the businesses least equipped to spot it.

So is JSL delivering on its promise? 100 days in, the answer is more nuanced than either side predicted.

Ashley Olliver, a director at Parasol, writes exclusively for ContractorUK, breaking down what JSL actually means for contractors 100 days in, and whether its high ambitions are holding true.

Read the full article on ContractorUK: https://t.co/I9993orhNj

[ContractorUK @itcontracting]

When a record summer heatwave and the World Cup hit at the same time, contracting demand can only hold on for so long.

Exclusive REC data shared with ContractorUK shows IT contractor demand slipped to 48.2 in June 2026, back below the 50.0 growth line and down from 50.5 in May. But as VIQU IT's Matt Collingwood puts it, "the issue isn't a lack of opportunity, it's a lack of urgency in the market to get hiring decisions over the line."

The upshot? The summer slowdown that usually lands in mid-July arrived weeks early. Reed's Kelly Macey told us contractor hiring "didn't fall off a cliff," but recruitment processes are slowing as decision-makers and tech professionals start taking summer leave.

VIQU IT and Reed break down what June's dip really means for contractors, and why an early start to summer may not mean an early finish.

Read the full article on ContractorUK: https://t.co/Ht57hCWy5E

[ContractorUK @itcontracting]

Zero-hours contract reform could end up doing something unintended: making traditional limited company contracting more attractive to hirers again.

Under the "Make Work Pay" plans, long-serving umbrella workers could have to be offered a permanent contract, straight from the end-client. For hirers who rely on umbrellas to stay flexible, that could change hiring entirely.

The rules don't apply to genuine limited company contractors. So while umbrellas get riskier, PSCs start to look simpler again, and some hirers may finally rethink their post-IR35 PSC bans.

Andy Chamberlain, head of strategic policy and advocacy at the FCSA, breaks down what this means for contractors and why it could be a double-edged sword for umbrella workers.

Read the full article on ContractorUK: https://t.co/899K5IGXj3

[ContractorUK @itcontracting]

The government presented the McCann Loan Charge Review as "completely independent." It turns out it wasn't.

Newly released Freedom of Information disclosures show that before McCann was ever appointed, the Treasury's own "Candidate Due Diligence" file had already flagged three conflicts of interest: his previous work for HMRC, his public comments on the loan charge, and his public support for Labour. All noted, all on the record, but seemingly waved through.

And that's a tough pill given what contractors were promised. Rachel Reeves pledged a "truly independent" review, yet this looks a lot like HMRC reviewing its own policies. The result focused on settlement terms while sidestepping the bigger question: whether HMRC's own approach to the loan charge has been fair or proportionate.

Greg Smith MP, co-chair of the Loan Charge & Taxpayer Fairness APPG, writes exclusively for ContractorUK, breaking down what this actually means for contractors waiting for a fair resolution, and whether one can even be expected.

Read the full article exclusively on ContractorUK,
https://t.co/edQ4zfTwzM

[ContractorUK @itcontracting]

The government has confirmed there will be no review of off-payroll working, no plans for a Single Worker Status, and no imminent review of employment status.

The update came last week, when ministers answered four questions from Conservative MP Andrew Snowden. The answers were short and direct: no current plans to review the IR35 reforms, no new categories of employment status, and a consultation on status only "in due course."

None of this means IR35 enforcement has quietened down. Public sector bodies have already faced around £400m in liabilities for getting status wrong, including £104m from the Post Office alone, and since 2023 HMRC has quietly been gathering information through its "Status and Off-Payroll Working Questionnaire."

In our latest piece, Danny Batey, a former HMRC inspector and now senior consultant at Markel Tax, explains what the government's answers really mean for contractors and why IR35 has to be treated as a continuous process rather than a one-off tick-box.

Read the full article on ContractorUK
https://t.co/2vaQuQ9U1w