Hitesh Mistry

𝗠𝘆𝘁𝗵-𝗕𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜𝗥𝟯𝟱: 𝗖𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗨𝗽 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗼𝗻 𝗠𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 🔍 IR35 can be a tricky area to navigate, with many myths and misconceptions floating around. Let’s clear up some common misunderstandings to help you manage your IT contracts effectively and stay compliant: 𝗠𝘆𝘁𝗵 𝟭: 𝗜𝗥𝟯𝟱 𝗢𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗔𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 Reality: While IR35 directly impacts contractors, clients are also responsible for correctly determining the contractor’s status. Misclassification can lead to financial penalties for your business. 𝗠𝘆𝘁𝗵 𝟮: 𝗨𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗖𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗧𝗼𝗼𝗹 𝗚𝘂𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗲𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 Reality: The CEST tool is a helpful guide, but its results aren’t legally binding. It's essential to seek additional professional advice to ensure accurate assessments. We can help you with this. 𝗠𝘆𝘁𝗵 𝟯: 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗜𝗥𝟯𝟱 𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝘀 𝗘𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗲𝗲𝘀 Reality: Even if a contractor falls inside IR35, they are not employees. They don’t receive the same benefits and protections as full-time employees but are subject to similar tax treatments. 𝗠𝘆𝘁𝗵 𝟰: 𝗜𝗥𝟯𝟱 𝗗𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗦𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀 Reality: The private sector reform in April 2021 introduced an exemption for small businesses, but medium and large businesses still need to comply. Understanding your business’s classification is crucial. 𝗠𝘆𝘁𝗵 𝟱: 𝗜𝗥𝟯𝟱 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝘂𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗙𝗶𝘅𝗲𝗱 Reality: A contractor’s IR35 status can change based on the specifics of each contract and working arrangement. Regular reviews and assessments are necessary to stay compliant. 𝗠𝘆𝘁𝗵 𝟲: 𝗢𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗡𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗿𝘆 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗜𝗥𝟯𝟱 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 Reality: HMRC can investigate both the contractor and the client. Ensuring compliance from the start protects both parties from potential scrutiny and penalties. Understanding these myths and the realities of IR35 helps in creating a compliant and fair working environment for all parties involved. If you need any guidance or have questions about IR35, feel free to reach out. We’re here to support you through the complexities.

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IBM is slashing hundreds of roles across its UK operations as part of a global streamlining effort, following a sharp decline in quarterly profits. The move impacts workers across business units, with unions warning of wider implications for the tech sector. #IBM #TechIndustry #businessgrowth

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𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐏𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧! This free event is part of WAVEZ' mission to empower the next generation of talent on IBM Z Mainframe - Our target audience is any aspirational mainframer within their first 0–7 years of experience across any / all disciplines.   Built around two levels of technical content (101 = Beginner and 102 = Intermediate) we will have sessions for the following six topics: 🖥️ 𝐳/𝐎𝐒  –  Operating system essentials, job control, JES2, workload management 🛡️ 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲  –  ESM's, access controls, encryption, compliance, and fundamentals 📊 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬  –  DB2, SQL, data structures, relations, performance basics 📨 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 & 𝐌𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠  –  CICS, MQ, APIs, and integration patterns </> 𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐃𝐞𝐯 – Software development using C, COBOL, Java, Python, Git, DevOps tooling, pipelines, etc… 📢 𝐒𝐨𝐟𝐭 𝐒𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬  –  Communication, teamwork, documentation, personal development   Click here for the 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐏𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬: https://lnkd.in/ekHtxwrS GSU

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I’m getting more questions around inside vs outside IR35 rate cards across AI & Data roles, so here’s a grounded view of what’s landing across the M4 corridor. This is based on live conversations with contractors and hiring managers. AI Architect designs and oversees the strategic implementation of AI across the organisation. Outside IR35: £750–£900/day | Inside IR35: £850–£1,000/day What drives rates: enterprise scale, ownership of AI strategy, governance, stakeholder influence, and accountability beyond delivery. Machine Learning Engineer designs, builds, deploys and maintains ML systems in production. Outside IR35: £550–£700/day | Inside IR35: £650–£800/day What drives rates: production ML experience, real pipelines, reliability, and impact beyond notebooks. MLOps Engineer builds and runs platforms that deploy, monitor and manage ML models in production. Outside IR35: £600–£750/day | Inside IR35: £700–£850/day What drives rates: ownership of the full model lifecycle, platform stability, incident response, and ability to operate at scale. Data Scientist applies statistics, engineering and domain knowledge to solve business problems. Outside IR35: £450–£600/day | Inside IR35: £550–£700/day What drives rates: commercial outcomes, stakeholder communication, and influence on decision-making, not just modelling. A few market realities worth calling out. For contractors, the decision between inside and outside IR35 usually comes down to overall take-home, contract length, and how clearly defined the work is, not just the headline day rate. For hiring managers, getting the IR35 determination right upfront is key. When this is done accurately, especially with an agency that has a clear IR35 assessment process in place, it reduces risk, avoids rework, and often leads to better quality contractors and stronger value for money. If useful, I’m happy to share how teams are structuring roles to attract strong talent without overpaying. #IR35 #AIJobs #DataCareers #ContractorsUK #HiringManagers

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*Contracting is dead.* Especially in data and software. Mainly thanks to IR35 (UK tax clampdowns and risk to employers), but also that in a data breach world, companies prefer secured staff to more nebulous freelancers. But delivering data solutions from skilled and focused individuals and providers is still required (and sometimes preferred to tying up vital staff) - and we're proud to continue that value, through contracts or projects. Certification helps prove experience, infrastructure and insurance with responsibility and liability. Do you think contracting or partnered projects still have a place? #contracting #freelance #data #dataviz

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The technology field is changing at a rapid pace, and this is especially true when you look at the shift from DevOps to AIOps. Employers and recruiters on every major IT job board are looking for professionals who can keep up and use automation, AI, and data-driven discovery. Read the full article here- https://lnkd.in/gRiF28vE #FutureOfIT #EmergingTech #ITInnovation #TechFuture #SmartIT #NextGenTech #DevOps #AIOps #Automation #CloudComputing

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Are your Operations Directors running strategy, or are they acting as high-paid compliance admins? A new project lands. You need 10 senior contractors for the next 6 months. That means 10 separate IR35 Status Determinations. So, what happens? Your Ops Director stops being a strategist. They scour contracts for substitution clauses, dig through messy email threads for working conditions, and manually click through the government's tax assessment tool. Every time you force leadership into manual data entry, you pay a tax. --> It burns half a day of director-level salary on a spreadsheet exercise. --> It stalls your sales cycle while you chase hiring managers for vague details. --> It introduces human error into a highly sensitive HMRC compliance check. This is the copy-and-paste tax. We're turning our most expensive assets into data entry clerks. In our latest Digital Workforce spotlight, we look at IR35 Determinations. A Digital Employee handles the complex compliance loop autonomously: ☑️ 1. The Intake: The moment a Statement of Work is signed, it reads the deliverables and working conditions perfectly, ignoring the noise. ☑️ 2. The Assessment: It hunts down the exact substitution clauses and populates the status determination tool in milliseconds. ☑️ 3. The Action: It generates the final statement instantly, only alerting your Ops Director if a marginal result requires professional human judgment. The result? Time-to-compliance drops to under 60 seconds. HMRC non-compliance risk is mitigated by design, not by effort. Your Ops Director stops chasing emails and goes back to doing what matters: scaling the business and managing client relationships. It's time to stop paying humans to act like software. Let them do human work. Watch the workflow in action. 👇 #DigitalWorkforce #IR35 #Compliance #Automation #Enbros

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I frequently discuss IR35 and misclassification with people regarding resource compliance. What’s clear is that the real impact is often much messier than a spreadsheet or policy document suggests and the £££££. If you put money to the side and look deeper, you will see: 🛠️ Operations stall > critical work pauses while people scramble to redefine roles 🚪 Good people walk > because they’d rather not risk being caught in the grey and wish to contract in a specific way 📉 Short-term savings backfire > especially when you’re playing catch-up with the regulator 📰 And reputational damage? You only need to be named once by HMRC… It’s a genuine problem, and when you look under the hood, more pain is caused than expected; you don’t realise it while you're focused on getting a resource in. It’s just a reminder that classification isn’t admin, it’s strategy. Are there any hidden ‘true costs’ of misclassification that I’m missing, beyond the financial factor? Perhaps you've experienced something that can help others….

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Discover how 500 UK IT leaders approach AI governance in our latest guide, created with Acutest (Part of Trustmarque) and IBM. Gain actionable insights and practical tips to strengthen your AI governance strategy. Download the exclusive report here: https://lnkd.in/ez-AgaFD #AIGovernance #ITLeadership #AI #Technology #Innovation

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£104.4m. That's the Post Office's IR35 bill — accumulated largely through the contractor workforce engaged on Horizon-related remediation and systems change work. Technology teams. If you're a CTO or engineering leader, this should hit close to home. Our departments are often the largest consumers of contractor and consultancy labour in the business. We engage specialists for platform migrations, legacy remediation, cloud infrastructure, security — often through complex supply chains involving consultancies, sub-contractors, and PSCs. And most of the time, those engagements sit completely outside any central workforce compliance view. Procurement sees a supplier invoice. Finance sees a cost centre. HR sees nothing. And no one is assessing whether the person who's been embedded in your team for 18 months, using your systems, attending your standups, and reporting to your tech lead has ever had their employment status reviewed. This isn't just a tax problem. It's a technology leadership problem — because we're the ones creating the demand, shaping the delivery model, and often selecting the suppliers. If your engineering org relies heavily on contractors or consultancy-supplied engineers, it's worth asking: does anyone have a complete picture of who's actually delivering work, and has their status ever been assessed based on how they actually operate day-to-day? We broke down the full Post Office case and what organisations should be doing differently 👇

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Learn how DWP Digital, part of the UK’s Department for Work and Pensions, is modernising its pension services with Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, to enhance the experience for millions of citizens. https://lnkd.in/eGkpNrbk

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Every time you stream a film or check your bank account, you’re connecting to a physical place. For many of us in the UK, that place is Slough. This is a fantastic article explaining how the town became the second-largest data centre hub in the world. It’s a story of industrial history meeting our digital future.

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HMRC and UK bank services have been reported down this morning. The cause? An AWS failure in Virginia. This is the price of accidental architecture. CEOs just learned a hard lesson: "using the cloud" is not an engineering strategy. us-east-1 is the default region, the path of least resistance. It's the "choice" made by teams operating without governance. This morning, that technical default became a multi million pound single point of failure. Resilience isn't automatic. It must be designed. Region selection is a business critical decision not a developer's afterthought. Stop letting defaults define your risk. #AWSOutage #EngineeringLeadership #RiskManagement #SaaS #HMRC

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Sharing this great opportunity to work on the NHS App. The NHS 10-year plan sets out a major shift — from analogue to digital, from hospital to community, and from sickness to prevention. The NHS App has a huge role to play as the digital front door to the NHS. If you’re interested in helping shape how millions of people access services and manage their health, this is a fantastic role to look at.

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