Why Go Through An Umbrella Company ???

[pumpjack]

im a scaffold supervisor, i travel 20 miles per day, buy tools and work wear. soon to go to london to work for some agencies .

what is the sense in me going through this umbrella company ( http://apex-contracting.co.uk/umbrella/ )

the agency i just started to go through have told me i must use this company or else go self employed using my UTR number.

can anyone advise what is difference and what is best for me .
my hourly rate here is £17 PH
in london my hourly rate will be £23 - £25 PH

[Buenchico]

If you go through an umbrella company you become an employee of that company, giving you things like paid holidays and statutory sick pay. However you'll get clobbered for two lots of National Insurance contribution because, as well as paying your own you'll end up paying the employer's contributions as well.

Take a look at this link. (The first bit is about supply teaching, so you might not think that it's relevant to you, but if you scroll down you'll come to stuff about the construction industry):
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/oct/21/temporary-workers-umbrella-companies-extra-costs-dodging-ni-cutting-rights-supply-teachers

See also here:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-39058166

I note that Apex (whose site you've linked to) doesn't want to provide any figures. One of their rivals, Parasol, offers a calculator:
https://www.parasolgroup.co.uk/
(You'll see that, as well as showing you what you'd end up earning for a 37½ hour week through their umbrella company they also show you what you'd get if you set up a limited company but with their sister company doing all the administration for you. That's another possibility which you might want to consider).

If it was me I'd want to hang on to as much of my money as possible and go down the self-employed route (even at the expense of losing out on paid holidays, etc).

[fiction-factory]

I used to do supply teaching through an agency and umbrella company when they insisted on it but then found a way of being paid directly by he agency. I would avoid umbrella companies completely as HMRC are looking closely and i think there is a risk they come after you for tax you thought you'd avoided. And as buenchico says you play the employers NI as well as your own, plus you pay an admin fee each payroll. You save some tax but if HMRC later feels it's avoidance they may come back to you for it several years later.

[RichardSlade]

Also, look at this:
https://www.contractorcalculator.co.uk/what_is_ir35.aspx

[EdmundD]

At the moment IR35 only applies if you are taking contract (or "off payroll") work in the public sector. However, it is being proposed for extension to the private sector.

I have used an umbrella company and avoid any tax issues by submitting a tax return based on the P45 or P60 provided by the umbrella.