Parasol
, the leading employment services provider and one of the UK’s fastest growing businesses, has announced a massive 293 per cent rise in operating profit for 2008.
The company has also increased turnover from £249m to £319m representing a growth of 28% and is predicting solid results for 2009.
Good Sign
Parasol depends solely on UK contractors, mainly IT Contractors, so it’s another good sign that the UK IT Contractor market is not being hit as badly as the permie market or other sectors of the economy.
Indeed IT is now seen, again, as an enabler of efficiency and cost cutting in the business rather than just a cost as it was seen by the Finance people in the downturns of the early nineties and early noughties when tens of thousands of IT Contractors were on the bench for long spells and rates plummeted.
Right Aproach
Parasol Managing Director Rob Crossland says: "The past couple of years have seen a phenomenal period of growth for us, proving that the Parasol approach is the right one for contractors.
"In addition, we have lobbied hard to protect all umbrella companies from legislative changes that could have been catastrophic for our industry."
Parasol was recently listed in the 2008 Sunday Times Virgin Fast Track 100 league table.
Bought Accountants
They have also just announced the acquisition of specialist accountancy practice ‘Quay Accounting’, the first of several planned strategic acquisitions in Parasol’s ambition to become one of the biggest contractor service providers in Europe.
Prior to this Parasol had concentrated in the Umbrella Company part of the business where it had become a top player.
Now the acquisition of a top Accountancy firm, well known to IT Contractors, has given Parasol a second string to its bow.
Ex Contractor
The Managing Director, Rob Crossland, is an ex-IT Contractor himself, so it’s good to see one of us doing well.
He and fellow contractor Mark O’Brien got the idea for the business on a wet Wednesday afternoon contracting at ICL whilst talking to other contractors about the new IR35 tax.
Reasons for Success
Parasol succeeded originally because the two IT Contractors knew what IT Contractors wanted and built the business model and the software to cater for that.
It also followed a very safe model so that IT Contractors would not suddenly find themselves in a company that the taxman was investigating or where contractors would suddenly find themselves paying back tax.
