News

IT consultancy

• January 14, 2020 14 Jan'20

  UK tech sector leads global growth in 2019

  Venture capital and foreign investment in the UK’s tech sector is at an all-time high, benefiting both early-stage and already-mature businesses

• January 09, 2020 09 Jan'20

  New GDPR service aims to ease compliance challenges

  Security consultants claim their software platform will address a pressing need for an effective and efficient means of complying with data protection rules

• January 07, 2020 07 Jan'20

  Government confirms IR35 private sector reforms under review ahead of April 2020 start date

  Government honours pledge to embark on a review of its plans to extend the IR35 off-payroll rules to the private sector that will focus on ensuring the changes are introduced in a “smooth” way in April 2020

• December 20, 2019 20 Dec'19

  Loan charge review results: Government agrees to policy amendments to cut tax bills of 30,000 people

  The government has announced a package of amendments to the loan charge policy that will remove 11,000 people from its scope, and cut the tax bills of 30,000 others

• December 18, 2019 18 Dec'19

  HM Treasury mulls loan charge review findings, but will not confirm public release date

  Contractor community frustrated by lack of concrete release date for review as loan charge settlement date of 31 January 2020 looms

• December 16, 2019 16 Dec'19

  Release of loan charge review must be prioritised by new government, urge IT contractors

  With prime minister Boris Johnson expected to announce a reshuffle of his new-look government today, IT contracting stakeholders are calling for the publication of the loan charge review to be prioritised and for the 31 January 2020 settlement date ...

• December 13, 2019 13 Dec'19

  New government faces calls to urgently deliver on pre-election pledge to review IR35 reforms

  Contracting groups and trade associations say prime minister Boris Johnson must deliver on his party’s pledge to review the IR35 reforms and allay fears that it was an empty promise made to secure votes

• December 13, 2019 13 Dec'19

  IR35 private sector reforms: GSK gives contractors 'quit or go PAYE' ultimatum

  Pharmaceutical giant GSK confirms limited company contractors will be phased out from its workforce from early 2020, as it rushes to comply with the private sector IR35 reforms

• December 02, 2019 02 Dec'19

  Private sector warned off delaying IR35 reform prep as Conservative Party promises review

  The Conservative Party has followed in the footsteps of the Liberal Democrats, The Labour Party and the Scottish National Party by committing to a review of the IR35 reforms

• November 29, 2019 29 Nov'19

  Labour SME minister back-tracks over claims party will scrap IR35 reforms if it comes to power

  Shadow small business secretary Bill Esterson clarifies comments he made during an event this week that suggested Labour had made halting the roll-out of the IR35 reforms to the private sector policy

• November 28, 2019 28 Nov'19

  Conservatives urged to join Labour, Lib Dems and SNP in committing to post-election IR35 review

  With several major political parties making pre-election pledges to conduct a review of the IR35 tax avoidance reforms, pressure is growing on the Tories to follow suit

• November 26, 2019 26 Nov'19

  Revamped HMRC IR35 status checker tool still lacks key functionality, contractor groups claim

  HMRC releases an updated version of its IR35 tax status checker tool, CEST, to accommodate the onset of the tax avoidance reforms being rolled out to the private sector, but contracting stakeholders claim it still lacks basic functionality

• November 21, 2019 21 Nov'19

  Lib Dem election manifesto: Party vows to scrap loan charge and review IR35 private sector reforms

  The Liberal Democrats’ General Election manifesto sees the party pledge to scrap the controversial loan charge policy, and undertake a review of the IR35 private sector reforms

• November 19, 2019 19 Nov'19

  IR35 reforms put IT contractors at risk of 'second wave' of loan charge-like tax bills, experts warn

  Concerns raised over re-emergence of umbrella firms targeting IT contractors with loan-based remuneration schemes ahead of the private sector IR35 reforms coming into play

• November 15, 2019 15 Nov'19

  Loan charge under review: The 20-year retroactive tax policy pushing IT contractors to the brink

  Thousands of IT contractors are at risk of financial ruin as HMRC pursues them for tax it claims they owe on work they did up to two decades ago and were reimbursed for via loan remuneration schemes. Computer Weekly investigates

• November 04, 2019 04 Nov'19

  IR35 tribunal rules HMRC wrong to pursue ex-DWP IT contractor for £240,000 in unpaid employment tax

  HMRC has vowed to appeal against the outcome of an IR35 tribunal that ruled it should not be pursuing an ex-DWP and Accenture IT contractor for more than £240,000 in unpaid tax as his engagements classify him as self-employed

• November 04, 2019 04 Nov'19

  NHS Digital hit with £4.3m IR35-related tax bill after using HMRC CEST tool to assess contractors

  The digital arm of the NHS used HMRC's much-maligned online tool to assess contractors, only for the tax agency to call into question its IR35 determinations and hit it with a tax bill totalling £4.3m

• October 31, 2019 31 Oct'19

  IR35 reforms: Concerns raised over private sector’s lack of preparedness for April 2020 start date

  As the countdown towards the IR35 reforms coming into force in the private sector continues, research by recruitment firm Hays draws concerns over an apparent lack of awareness and preparation amongst enterprises

• October 29, 2019 29 Oct'19

  NordVPN enlists ethical hackers, launches bug bounty programme

  Breached consumer VPN supplier details steps it is taking to shore up its cyber security posture after an unknown actor gained access to one of its servers

• October 23, 2019 23 Oct'19

  Nordic industrial giants continue to choose Indian suppliers for digital transformation

  HCL signs new deals with Volvo Cars and Equinor as India-based IT services suppliers continue to grow in the Nordic region

• October 21, 2019 21 Oct'19

  European companies hold back outsourcing amid recession fears

  Total outsourcing in Europe plummeted in the third quarter this year, compared with the previous three months

• October 17, 2019 17 Oct'19

  IR35 private sector preparation: What the banks’ take on the reforms means for IT contractors

  With six months until IR35 tax avoidance reforms are extended to the private sector, a number of financial services firms are thinning out their contractor workforce – is that the way to ensure compliance?

• October 02, 2019 02 Oct'19

  HMRC extends contract with Capgemini but embeds flexibility

  Department’s technology sourcing programme seeks to access the services of more tech providers, including SMEs and startups

• October 01, 2019 01 Oct'19

  IR35 reforms will prompt Barclays to re-engage contractors on PAYE terms, 'leaked email' suggests

  Barclays is understood to have notified line managers via email on 30 September 2019 of its plans to phase out use of limited company contractors, ahead of the IR35 private sector reforms coming into force in April 2020

• September 29, 2019 29 Sep'19

  Private sector warned of ‘brain drain’ risk by putting off prep for April 2020 start of IR35 reforms

  Legal firm warns private sector companies about the risks of putting off preparations for the IR35 reforms that take effect next year

• September 27, 2019 27 Sep'19

  GDPR compliance: Whose job is it and is it really possible?

  Nobody seems to have a good handle on business GDPR compliance, how many businesses are compliant, or indeed what compliance really is, but according to security experts, it very much depends on who you talk to

• September 24, 2019 24 Sep'19

  Latest Lorca cyber security challenge has IoT focus

  Government-backed cyber security innovation centre Lorca has issued new challenges around connectivity for its next intake of scaleups

• September 20, 2019 20 Sep'19

  Drive for Nordic datacentre transformation

  Nordic enterprises looking to spread abroad are outsourcing datacentre IT in cutting-edge ways to gain international advantage

• September 19, 2019 19 Sep'19

  Nordic IT outsourcing: why India is leading the pack

  A rising tide lifts all ships when it comes to outsourcing in Norway, Finland, Sweden and Denmark, but some ships have risen faster than others

• August 28, 2019 28 Aug'19

  HMRC under fire over 'scaremongering' IR35 clampdown letters targeting GSK IT contractors

  GSK contractors that have received “scaremongering” letters from HMRC, urging them to review their engagements with the company from an IR35 perspective, are being urged not to panic, as the missives have no legal basis, claim experts

• July 31, 2019 31 Jul'19

  Middle East businesses welcome Amazon Web Services region launch

  Bahrain AWS region, with three datacentres, links Middle East to AWS's global network and will help to accelerate digital transformation

• July 24, 2019 24 Jul'19

  French and German companies have contrasting fortunes in India

  France is racing ahead of Germany when it comes to making the most of service companies in India

• July 11, 2019 11 Jul'19

  Draft finance bill dims hopes of private sector reprieve on April 2020 roll-out of IR35 reforms

  Publication of the draft IR35 private sector reform legislation dims hopes the government might announce a delay to rolling out the changes in April 2020

• July 01, 2019 01 Jul'19

  NTT picks London for newly formed global business

  NTT says unifying its various units under one umbrella and basing it in London will help it take full advantage of both its clients’ demands for joined up digital services, and the capital’s booming tech economy

• June 25, 2019 25 Jun'19

  Three Finnish banks, one core IT platform

  Can a shared core IT platform enable three Finnish banks to become more efficient yet maintain individual competitiveness?

• June 24, 2019 24 Jun'19

  Release date clarification sought for revamped CEST tool as private sector IR35 reforms near

  HMRC is under growing pressure to say when its revamped IR35 online tax status tool will be released, as stakeholders air grievances over current issues with the answers it produces

• June 20, 2019 20 Jun'19

  HCL delivers digital services to Cricket Australia

  Cricket governing body chooses Indian IT supplier to expand the boundaries of its customer engagement platforms

• June 19, 2019 19 Jun'19

  Finland’s Tieto and Norway’s Evry merge to fend off competition from Indian suppliers

  Two of the Nordic region's biggest IT suppliers merge as competition in their home region increases

• June 17, 2019 17 Jun'19

  HMRC urged to delay April 2020 extension of IR35 rules to private sector by 'at least' 12 months

  An analysis of the responses HMRC has reportedly received to its consultation on extending the IR35 tax avoidance reforms to the private sector suggests the tax agency is coming under pressure to put its plans on hold for at least 12 months

• June 14, 2019 14 Jun'19

  IT outsourcing is increasing, but not as we know it

  IT outsourcing is growing in the UK, as organisations spend more as part of their digital transformations

• June 05, 2019 05 Jun'19

  Finland’s Tieto reorganises to grab growth opportunities

  Tieto is cutting costs as part of its growth plan that will see hundreds of job cuts in Finland and Sweden

• May 14, 2019 14 May'19

  Public sector outsourcing spend plummets

  Private sector outsourcing dominated spending in the UK during the first quarter of 2019

• May 07, 2019 07 May'19

  Technical error on Capita system puts Barnet council staff out of pocket

  A system error that led to Barnet council staff being incorrectly paid is the latest complaint about a back-office outsourcing contract with Capita

• April 04, 2019 04 Apr'19

  National Savings and Investments makes £300m extension to Atos deal

  UK government-owned savings bank adds three years to IT services contract with French supplier

• March 19, 2019 19 Mar'19

  New Accenture-Microsoft group to sharpen industry focus

  Accenture-Microsoft business group will deliver industry-specific offerings and consulting services to enterprises that lean towards Microsoft technologies

• March 12, 2019 12 Mar'19

  IBM’s APAC CEO talks up next chapter of cloud adoption

  In the next phase of cloud adoption, enterprises will need to manage multiple cloud environments, as well as data to scale up their use of artificial intelligence technology

• March 06, 2019 06 Mar'19

  Keep pace with device management with DaaS

  Adoption of device-as-a-service offerings is expected to improve as more enterprises migrate to Windows 10 over the next two years

• March 01, 2019 01 Mar'19

  IBM deal to drive Nordea’s IT-led transformation

  Nordea is expanding its relationship with IBM through a deal that will give it access to the skills and resources required to keep pace with the digital revolution in banking

• February 27, 2019 27 Feb'19

  NHS software deal tops public sector spending on new IT contracts in 2018

  Department of Health’s Windows 10 contract was the biggest public sector deal signed last year

• February 19, 2019 19 Feb'19

  Bank of England to migrate from core system with a one-off big bang

  The Bank of England will migrate from its current core settlement system with a 'big-bang' migration before the end of 2025