Press releaseTuesday 6 April 2010

SPA changes name to the Freelancer & Contractor Services Association

As a founder member of the Service Providers Association (SPA) giant is delighted to announce the rebrand of the Association, now to be known as the Freelancer and Contractor Services Association (FCSA). The new name and logo are designed to clearly reflect the FCSA’s areas of expertise while demonstrating our continued focus on representing companies across the sector.

In line with the rebrand activity and the Association’s ongoing commitment to transparency, our industry leading code of conduct is being made a publicly available for the first time. The code of conduct encompasses the broad range of businesses that operate in the service providers sector, including umbrella organisations and businesses providing support services to limited companies. It outlines the professional standards that we believe should apply to the sector and is designed to encourage best practice across the industry. The code will be available on application and open to view via the Association’s new look website – www.fcsa.org.uk- from today.

FCSA’s Chairman, Stuart Davis comments:

The rebrand and release of the code are vitally important steps forward for the Association, demonstrating our commitment to remove confusion in this complex and vibrant sector, as well as our ongoing growth and development. All of the FCSA‘s work is designed to benefit our members, their customers and the industry as a whole, which is why we decided to take the unique step of making the code of conduct publicly available.

As part of the code of conduct process Association members undergo an independent review from one of the 'big four' accountancy firms. This, combined with HMRC’s receipt of the documentation, constitutes a unique combination of rigorous independent assessment and business transparency which clearly demonstrate our commitment to driving up professional standards across the industry. This approach proves that we do what we say, meaning we are able to use the code both to add value to our members and their customers and to hopefully inspire the industry at large.

Since its launch in 2008, giant has been a member of the Association when we came together with other leading players in the industry to respond to a stream of proposed regulation which revealed a lack of understanding from Government as to how the temporary labour market operates. That year, SPA successfully engaged in the HM Treasury consultation process on the issue of subsistence and travel expense relief for freelance workers employed by umbrella companies. This was followed by the launch of the Association’s code of conduct in 2009. We look forward to keeping you up to date with further developments from the Association.

Established in 1992, giant specialises in providing workforce management solutions to the recruitment market. The range of services include:

  • employment services where giant employs and payrolls temporary workers, freelancers and contractors – a founder memberof FCSA and voted Best Umbrella Company for the third year by readers of Contractor UK – www.giantgroup.com
  • web-based agency back office solutions – worker checks, contract management, timesheet management, billing, payroll, self-serve web portals and payroll disaster recovery - www.giantprecision.com.

 

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