LATEST NEWS FROM STERLING SOLUTIONS

STERLING STANDS ALONE

Following complex negotiations, the directors of Sterling, have bought out two of its major shareholders who held a 25% stake in the company. The buyout was secured with help from some of the North West’s premier financial and legal bodies, these firms were RBS, Grant Thornton and Hill Dickinson.

Founded in 1998, and employing over 100 staff, Sterling has built a formidable reputation for providing sub-contracted labour to over a thousand recruitment agencies across the UK.

Covering construction, engineering, oil and gas and associated trades, we are proud to have many contractors placed on such prestigious assignments such as the Liverpool Echo Arena, Wembley Stadium and the Olympic 2012 projects.

Sterling is the parent company of three sub-brands: Sterling Techserv, Sterling Solutions and Sterling CIS. Through these companies we provide payment methods, payroll management services and other supporting services to enable temporary workers to work tax efficiently.

Ian Black, Managing Director of Sterling commented: “The team effort to achieve this buy-out puts Sterling in a strong position. The new company structure will allow Sterling to continue to progress in our expert market, whilst introducing us to new challenges and focusing on areas such as the IT, medical and financial sectors in the future. We have been successful year on year, since 1998 and I am confident 2008 will be our most competitive yet.”

“The introduction of two new products, Sterling Solutions and Sterling Techserv in 2007, tested us and our industry, but thanks to our strong brand name and reputation for compliance, our business has grown to facilitate this buyout.”

Changes to Sterling Solutions payments from April 2008
As announced in the 2007 Budget, from 6 April 2008, the basic rate of income tax will reduce to 20% (currently 22%)
Sterling Solutions employees payslips will therefore reflect this change from 11 April 2008.

Umbrella Supermarket approves Sterling Solutions
We are proud to announce that Umbrella Supermarket has awarded Sterling Solutions their mark of approval. This award recognises our high standards towards compliance and customer service levels.

National Minimum Wage to Increase on 1 October 2007
The National Minimum Wage Regulations 1999 guarantee all UK workers a specified minimum wage. The statutory minimum wage is dependent on the age of the worker.

The current 2006/ 07 thresholds are;

• £5.35 per hour for over 21 year olds
• £4.45 per hour for 18-21 year olds
• £3.30 per hour for 16 and 17 year olds.

From the 1 October 2007, the National Minimum Wage will increase to;

• £5.52 per hour for over 21 year olds (an increase of 17p per hour)
• £4.60 per hour for 18 – 21 year olds (an increase of 15p per hour)
• £3.40 per hour for 16 and 17 year olds (an increase of 10p per hour)

From 1 October 2007, Sterling Solutions will apply the new minimum hourly rates to calculate employees payments.

2007 Budget response 

As you may be aware, the Government announced in December 2006 that it was intending to consult on possible action to tackle what they describe as “Managed Service Companies”.

In the budget speech of 21 March 2007 the chancellor released his decision on Tackling Managed Service Companies.

The key elements of this release are as follows;
• The transfer of debt provision for agencies has been deferred to 6 January 2008, with no reclaim of debt for the period 6 April 2007 to this date
• The transfer of debt for directors and office holders of MSC’s has been delayed until the later Royal Assent is delivered or on the 6 August 2007
• Exclusions for employment agencies and business’s who do not influence or control the finances of the companies

Sterling will offer from the 6 April 2007 three products, Sterling CIS self-employed, Sterling Techserv self- employed and Sterling Solutions. Sterling Techserv will sub-contract to recruitment agencies for all sub-contractors outside of the construction industry.

Construction Industry self-employed sub-contractors and sub-contractors outside of this industry and also umbrella employees have not been sited in this legislation. Sterling believes that from this budget we can only offer these services that are not within the legislation to safeguard all parties concerned.

The contractual chain between Sterling Solutions, CIS and Techserv and recruitment agencies will be treated in the following manner;

Assignments within construction the two options will be;

• Sterling CIS self-employed - Sterling CIS deduct the statutory 20% CIS taxation (this is to increase from 18% on the 6 April 2007) from the gross payments received, the onus for year end tax returns and any such liabilities being on the self-employed sub-contractor
• Sterling Solutions – the employed route, Sterling Solutions welcomes contractors to become employees of Sterling Solutions. Business related expenses can be claimed on a weekly basis and holiday pay will be retained on a weekly basis.

Assignments not within construction the two options will be;

• Sterling Techserv self-employed –Gross payments received - the onus for year end tax returns and any such liabilities being on the self-employed sub-contractor. The onus for year end tax returns and any such liabilities being on the self-employed sub-contractor.

• Sterling Solutions – the employed route, Sterling Solutions welcomes contractors to become employees of Sterling Solutions. Business related expenses can be claimed on a weekly basis and holiday pay will be retained on a weekly basis.

If an individual wishes to operate via a personal service company, then such a company must contract directly with an agency. If they require professional services for their company we would recommend AGP Chartered Accountants 01925 418 386, but they could use any one else of their choice if they prefer.

If an individual needs to purchase a limited company we would recommend Mandarin Formation Services Limited 0870 754 1212, but once again the choice is theirs.

Sterling CIS Limited or Sterling Techserv Limited will not be sub-contracting to Personal Service Companies.