people4 for sole traders

The people4 sites – including «people4business», «people4charity», «people4engineering» and «people4web2» – give you access to companies throughout the UK, who may be looking for your particular skills.

As a sole trader, you are very welcome to register as either a Seller or a Buyer – or both – but there are a few details you need to be aware of.

Sole-trader Sellers

Payment through a limited company

Because of our legal status as an Employment Business, all of our Sellers need to be paid through a limited company.

Many of our Sellers work through their own limited company or through a consultancy (which must also be a limited company)

If you are working as a sole trader, you still need to be paid through a limited company for all your contracts through people4business Limited.

Umbrellas – the simple solution

It is easy for you to do this, by registering with an umbrella company.

The umbrella company effectively employs you. It processes all your payments, deducting tax, National Insurance and their fee from the payment which they then send through to you. It is much like receiving PAYE earnings, with three key differences:

• you can claim expenses (your umbrella company will be able to give you guidance on this);
• you will be liable for both employee's and employer's national insurance contributions.
• some umbrella companies may also suggest that you set aside an amount from each pay period to provide for holiday pay, for when you want some time off.

At the end of the tax year, you will receive a P60 form detailing your pay and deductions.

For more information, please refer to our page on umbrella companies.

Setting your rate

We do not allow any Seller to set an hourly rate lower than the «national minimum wage» – currently £5.52 per hour for workers aged 22 years and older.

We advise you to set your rate at a realistic level, bearing in mind that you will need to pay tax, national insurances – both employer’s and employee’s – and the umbrella company fees out of your contract earnings.

Registering as a Buyer

Sole traders may also want to buy in professional services themselves from our Sellers.

In this case, you can register as a Buyer in the usual way – for more information see the Buyer zone.

If you have registered as a Seller, you will need to register again as a Buyer, as we use cookies to tailor the information you receive on the site, depending on whether you are a Seller or a Buyer.

Last updated 08.07.08