News

The exemption from the changes to the application of the IR35 rules may not be as straightforward as you think As most contractors should now be aware, changes to the IR35 employment status regime are coming into effect in April, which will significantly alter the tax treatment of consultants using personal service companies (PSCs) to supply large and medium-sized businesses if they are inside the IR35 rules.   The changes place the onus on those clients to determine whether their consultant falls within the IR35 regime, and provide them with a “status determination statement, or “SDS”.  Where the consultant is considered [...]

On 7 February 2020, HMRC issued draft guidance relating to the proposed new UK IR35 regime, in the form of updated sections of its Employment Status Manual (ESM). The main news is that HMRC have now confirmed that the new IR35 tax and NICs regime will apply only to services provided on or after 6 April 2020. This seems to flow from the draft legislation but had not been said before by HMRC and is a change from the 2017 regime. Otherwise the guidance has nothing particularly new – it seems to confirm our understanding of how the new regime [...]

The following is a collaborative piece, produced with our financial partners Price Bailey. Major changes are looming concerning the IR35 employment status regime. But while there is a lot of focus on preparing for the implementation of the new rules in April 2020, the good news is that the vast majority of SMEs will not be affected by the changes – at least, not as hirers. When IR35 was initially introduced back in 2000, it was up to the “worker” (or more accurately, their personal service company) to determine whether or not they fell within the IR35 criteria. That [...]

The following is a collaborative piece, produced with our financial partners Price Bailey. What is IR35 in a nutshell? IR35 was first introduced in 2000, and is designed to reduce tax avoidance by contractors who HMRC believe to be ‘disguised employees’ – people who work in a similar way to full-time employees but then bill for their services via their limited companies to make their business as tax efficient as possible.  Originally, IR35 employment status was declared by the contractor and not the hiring organisation. But in 2017, the rules changed significantly for the public sector, with the onus to [...]

This September BIA are taking their successful Women in Biotech series to Cambridge, where they look forward to engaging with attendees to inspire more people to tackle diversity challenges within their organisations. There will be some excellent speakers for a panel discussion, chaired by Sally Shorthose, which will focus on diversity challenges and how to address them in the working environment. Carolyn Douthwaite (Founder & NED), Sally Hope (Managing Partner), Jayne Fergusson (Projects Director), Sarah Lloyd (Client Partner Interims) and Gemma Adamante (Senior Executive Researcher) from PIR International will all be in attendance. If you see one of the [...]

PIR is delighted to announce the appointment of highly regarded executives to support its planned international expansion.  From today, PIR life sciences executive search and interim management will be joined by Tom Bradley and Stuart Penney as Senior Partners, Gemma Adamante as Senior Executive Researcher and George Owen as Executive Researcher.  These valuable additions to an already strong team will fuel the PIR drive to expand internationally within the life sciences sector.  Tom spent over ten years at Pfizer before moving into global executive search where he works across the Pharmaceutical, Biotech and Consumer Health sectors, hiring senior leaders across [...]

PIR, a leading executive search company based near Cambridge, UK, which identifies senior talent for early stage life science Boards, is delighted to confirm the appointment of two senior Advisors to their Board. Maureen Coleman joins as Chair Mentor and Mark Treherne as Associate Consultant. Maureen and Mark are hugely respected by the sector for their success in building early stage, investor backed, life science companies; through to trade sale or transition onto the public markets. Their networks with investors, government and business leaders in the sector are exceptional. Carolyn Douthwaite, Founder of PIR commented: “We are thrilled that Maureen [...]