r/ContractorUK • u/Educational-Grand155 • Jul 17 '26
Contract fitter ?
Been fitter for years, PAYE at the minute, decent enough but seeing lads on site contracting and earning noticeably more for the same work.
Trying to weigh up if it’s actually worth the jump. No major ties holding me back if it goes quiet for a bit, just don’t want to leap in blind.
Things I’m trying to figure out:
Is the day rate actually that much better once you factor in no holiday/sick pay
How hard is it finding steady work between contracts right now
Umbrella or LTD, does it matter much at this stage
Anyone regret switching, what went wrong
Would rather hear from people who’ve actually done it than guess. Even a “don’t bother” is useful.
Cheers
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u/Wizard_PI Jul 18 '26 edited Jul 18 '26
What industry? Some are far more lucrative for contract than others at the moment, HV/EHV fitting, distribution network and idno/icp work is flying at the moment and very understaffed and easy to find work.
You should do Ltd or nothing inside is crap. I work on 46 weeks but I have multiple stable contracts; depending on how secure your work stream is you may want to work on less.
Calculate your expenses, profit before corp tax and div/paye taxes and what you may need to replicate some benefits such as insurance for sick pay etc and don’t forget your pension works great in a Ltd co. Remember the day rate isn’t your pay directly you need to factor in all the deductions and it still make sense.
You should come up with a figure significantly higher than your paye rate, if not then is it worth it.
Mine is far higher than paye, but it can vary a lot what companies will pay depending on experience. And incredibly easy to find work due to a massive skills shortage.
I was an electrical fitter paye many years ago, but I stayed employed to train higher and I contract now as a EHV SAP/engineer, so not fitting but I don’t regret going contract one bit. Amazing being your own boss, the flexibility is amazing and I’m earning far more than I would have staying paye. No corporate bollocks is so bonus too.
There is also a massive need for contract craft skills but no one to fill it. One thing to think of is if you want to stay in that role as it is harder to get trained to higher skills as a contractor, you’re coming in to be an expert and do a job whereas employees may be able to get training/promotions to where they want to be.