Chris Futcher

Contractors & Freelancers: Turning Day Rates Into Borrowing Power 🔷 Your Day Rate Is Stronger Than You Think If Packaged Properly Contractors and freelancers often underestimate their borrowing power. In 2025, many lenders convert day rates into annualised income, allowing significantly higher affordability than traditional accounts-based underwriting. IR35 status, assignment length and contract history matter, but with the right lender, you can borrow far more than expected. 👉 Link in message 👇 #Contractors #Freelancers #IR35 #MortgageTips #WillowPrivateFinance

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Why Your IR35 Dispute Process Matters A clear, fair dispute process is crucial for protecting your business under the off-payroll working rules. If a contractor disagrees with your IR35 determination, you must handle the situation in a way that: ✔️Clearly explains how the decision was made ✔️Ensures the contractor has an opportunity to appeal ✔️Protects your business from future scrutiny by keeping detailed records A disputes process is mandatory, and should be transparent, repeatable, and well-documented, showing HMRC that you’ve taken reasonable care. One way to make managing disputes easier and more reliable is by working with a provider who includes dispute management as part of their process. By doing so, you benefit from their expertise in handling disputes in a fair and consistent manner, ensuring that all decisions are clearly documented. This means you’ll have a solid paper trail that can stand up to any scrutiny from HMRC. Unsure if your dispute process is set up correctly? Feel free to get in touch with us to have a chat. https://buff.ly/3IiKCcg #IR35 #IR35assessment #IR35Compliance #Compliance #Consultation #HRnews #HR #SDS #HMRC #Tax #Contractor #Contracting #Status

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📢📢📢 I am absolutely delighted to share the final report of the deep dive research study into the Scottish digital health and medical technology sectors. This research, delivered by Optimat Ltd for Scottish Enterprise, was a real pleasure to contribute to. It explores the full breadth of Scotland’s capabilities across digital health and medtech from AI diagnostics and digital therapeutics to remote care, connected devices, and clinical decision support tools. The report also looks beyond individual technologies to examine wider system enablers, demand trends, and opportunities. It was particularly rewarding to speak with so many businesses and ecosystem partners who are actively shaping the future of health and care. Read the executive summary on SE website⬇️

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When you’re buying or selling a business, IR35 risk has a habit of surfacing late - and at the worst possible moment. I’ve worked on enough M&A transactions to know that buyers don’t want theory. They want a clear, evidence-based view of historic exposure and confidence about how the rules will apply after completion. That’s exactly what we focus on at IR35 Shield. In practice, our M&A work usually involves: 1. Reviewing historic contractor engagements and determinations. 2. Identifying where risk genuinely sits - and where it doesn’t. 3. Quantifying exposure in a way advisers and boards can rely on. 4. Explaining how the off-payroll rules apply post-transaction. The aim is simple. Protect deal value, avoid surprises, and give both sides the confidence to move forward. If you’re heading into a transaction and IR35 is on the risk register, this is an area where real-world experience matters. #mergersandacquistions #m&a #IR35 #exitplanning #wellingabusiness

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Over recent months, UKRI, Innovate UK, & other UK Gov bodies signalled several coming funding calls for disruptive industry-focused R&D. Below I highlighted four of my picks worth gearing up for, along with some speculative timings & funding ranges. 1. Advanced Manufacturing Challenge Fund UK Gov´s recent £2.8Bn commitment to R&D in advanced manufacturing (announced June 2025) will translate into targeted challenge calls via UKRI & DSIT. Timing: Q4-2025 onwards Funding: likely up to ~£750k per project Outlook: Expect calls focused on collaborative R&D, new production technologies, & cross-sector manufacturing innovation. 2. Innovation-to-Commercialisation Pathways in Life Sciences BBSRC & MRC are gearing up for new translational funding rounds, supporting routes from lab discovery to commercial application. Timing: Oct–Dec 2025 Funding: ~£300k–£600k per project Outlook: Blends academic excellence with industry engagement — so bids benefit from industry grant expertise, particularly in business models, routes to market, & end-user validation. 3. DARE UK Phase 2 – Demonstrator Projects Following the real-world research phase opening in October, UKRI has indicated plans for a Phase 2 to support larger-scale demonstrator projects in trusted research environments (TREs). Timing: Early 2026 Funding: Likely £500k–£1M, with potential for smaller awards Outlook: Open topic but leans toward data-intensive sectors — health, government, infrastructure, & population-level social research — pushing secure data & interoperability. 4. Defra / Innovate UK Environmental Monitoring Challenge Emerging from consultations in late 2025, this cross-departmental programme is expected to support biodiversity, ecosystem monitoring, & environmental tech. Timing: Launch expected in early 2026 Funding: Estimated £300k–£600k per project Outlook: Ideal for collaborative innovation in environmental sensing, data analytics, remote monitoring, & land use intelligence — especially where SME & academic teams work together. If you're developing R&D projects that could align — or if you're looking to partner on proposals — I'm always happy to connect & exchange insights. #innovation #grants #ukresearch #advancedmanufacturing #lifesciences #environmentaltech #DAREUK #funding #ukri #innovateuk

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💡 A new opportunity for investors to maximize returns while supporting innovation! The Angel Investor Tax Relief, part of the Relief for Investment in Innovative Enterprises, is now live! 📢 With a 16% CGT rate (18% for partnerships) and tax relief on gains up to twice the initial investment (capped at €3 million lifetime), this is a key incentive for those backing high-growth Irish businesses. 🔑 ✅ If you’re considering investment opportunities, this relief could make a significant difference. #InvestmentOpportunities #TaxEfficiency #CGTRelief #Entrepreneurship

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Why many medium and large consultancies have an IR35 advantage. If your consultancy delivers a fully outsourced service, the IR35 “client” is often your consultancy rather than the end client. That can create a commercial advantage. Your client does not need to carry out IR35 determinations on the individuals delivering the work, and you remain in control of how your delivery teams are structured. For consultancies building flexible delivery teams using contractors, this can support a lean and scalable operating model. However, this advantage only holds if the model stands up to scrutiny. Contracts, working practices and status assessments all need to align. This becomes particularly important if your consultancy is planning to grow, attract investment or prepare for a future sale, as IR35 risk is often examined during due diligence. A consultancy built on a robust IR35 model is easier for clients to engage and more attractive to investors. If you would like to sense-check whether your consultancy is structured correctly, feel free to book a quick chat. #IR35 #OffPayroll #ConsultancyGrowth #UKBusiness #MergersAndAcquisitions #Contractors #IR35Shield

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Sobering report showing investment transactions in UK start-ups down 30% since COVID, with sage advice for new Founders on how to mitigate this - https://lnkd.in/ed6j9QKc

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Companies wanting to win Smart Loans from Innovate UK should read this article by my colleague Phil Branston at UK Business Advisors . #UKBAMeansBusiness #InnovateUK #SmartLoans #StartupFunding #SMEAdvice #TechFundingUK #Strategy

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The newly announced Innovator Passport scheme aims to remove duplication and accelerate adoption of proven technologies across the NHS—something many in our sector have long called for.   Delivered via a platform, this single digital approval route could make it easier for companies to scale innovation nationally, helping Trusts adopt what works without repeated local reassessment.   We’ve seen initiatives like this come and go—but this one feels promising. At Health Analytical Solutions Ltd, we’ll be following closely to understand how it plays out in practice and what it could mean for our clients.   If you work in MedTech, digital health or diagnostics, follow us for practical updates as this develops.   https://lnkd.in/eKVbSXhe #MedTech #HealthInnovation #NHSInnovation #MarketAccess #DigitalHealth #LifeSciences #HealthTechUK #NHSAdoption #InnovatorPassport #HealthcareStrategy

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If we just merge ICBs to save money, we’ve missed the real opportunity. NHS England’s timetable puts most ICB mergers on track for April 2026 or 2027 https://lnkd.in/eiuHz2Fk. But behind the headlines is a rare chance to raise the digital baseline across entire systems. At Channel 3, we’ve supported ICSs through digital convergence and we’ve seen that it’s not about structures, it’s about standards. This is a pivotal moment to: - Rationalise infrastructure, simplifying hosting, connectivity, support models and core capabilities to build resilience at scale. - Embed common standards in data models, procurement frameworks, and cyber security to enable interoperability and reduce risk. - Pool talent and capability, establishing shared digital and analytics teams with the scale and reach to deliver transformation at pace. But there are pitfalls: - Levelling down: If standards are set by the lowest common denominator, we entrench mediocrity. - Drift: Waiting for structures to settle creates paralysis at the very moment clarity is most needed. - Loss of nuance: Standardisation must allow for local flexibility where it adds clinical or operational value. Digital mustn’t trail behind these mergers. It needs to be a core part of leading them. This change will shape the NHS’s digital capability for the next decade. How is your ICS planning to seize the opportunity and avoid the drift? #Channel3Consulting #DigitalHealth #ICBMergers #NHS #Interoperability #DigitalLeadership #HealthcareTransformation

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