“Exploitative schemes centred on umbrella companies are going unchecked thanks to loopholes in the law, weak worker rights and inadequate state enforcement. The act of setting up a mini umbrella company is not illegal, and some are created for legitimate reasons. Test-and-trace sources have named at least 30 companies which appear to fit the pattern of mini umbrella companies. They appeared to have randomly generated names – examples that shared addresses with companies used to pay test-and-trace staff include Aeonofwhitewashing Limited, Truthfulmystica Limited and Surprisingmachine Limited. An HMRC spokesperson said it had recently deregistered more than 22,000 mini umbrella companies who it believed were exploiting the scheme.

Source: The Guardian May 10, 2021 18:04 UTC