Hardhats
The email arrives. HMRC wants to discuss your tax affairs and they’re offering a telephone call to “clear up a few questions.” It sounds innocent enough: just a quick conversation to sort things out. But should you accept? The short answer: politely decline. Request that all correspondence be submitted in writing. Here’s why that seemingly […]
HMRC came after one of our clients which could have cost them over £2 million, one quarter of their annual turnover, in backdated tax around an employment status dispute. For two years, they threw everything at us. Microscopes out, questions flying, going through everything with a fine-tooth comb. So we’re going to share with you […]
When you’ve spent more than a decade working across recruitment, contracting and payroll compliance, you develop a rare view of how money really moves through the supply chain. That’s exactly what Adam Jordan, Founder of SupplyIN2, brings to the table. As a long-standing expert in contractor payroll and compliance, Adam has seen the good, the […]
The 2024 employment status case between HMRC and the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) has sent shockwaves through the compliance world [Commissioners for His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (Respondent) v Professional Game Match Officials Ltd (Appellant) – UK Supreme Court]. Whilst on the surface it’s about football referees, the underlying principles touch every business […]
What happens when compliance meets chaos? At HardHats, we’ve never been big fans of doing things the “usual way” – whether that’s how contractors manage subbies or how we show up at events. So when we were invited to sponsor the 18th hole at the TSM Group Charity Golf Day at the prestigious London Golf Club, we decided […]
When we launched HardHats, we weren’t thinking about offices, payroll, or team culture. We weren’t dreaming about staff socials or writing employee handbooks. We had one simple mission: Help contractors use subcontractors long-term without HMRC breathing down their necks. Back then, it was just the two of us. Laptop, phone, a bit of blind optimism […]
Some stories just hit different. For Marlon Pack, it was pulling on the blue shirt of Portsmouth FC. He grew up in the stands at Fratton Park. Dreamed of one day stepping onto that pitch. And years later – he’s come full circle as captain of the club he supported as a kid. That’s the […]
Construction’s a tough game – especially when clients don’t pay up. A few years back, one of our clients found out just how brutal it can get: four projects went sideways and they ended up £345,000 out of pocket. A Loss That Hits Everywhere It wasn’t sloppy work or poor quality. It was simply clients […]
The best contract in the world means nothing if your subcontractors don’t get it. Most construction firms get the paperwork sorted. Contracts, status determinations, UTRs on file, maybe even a software system behind it. But here’s the bit that gets missed – and it’s where everything can fall apart: If your subbies don’t understand what […]
Big changes are coming. From April 2026, legislation comes into force that could leave construction firms exposed to HMRC claims – even if they’re working with a payroll or umbrella company. It’s a shift that hasn’t made big headlines yet, but it should be on the radar of every contractor using subcontractors long-term. Because the […]
Being self-employed isn’t just about being your own boss and taking care of your own tax affairs. Being self-employed means you are in business for yourself. But being in business for yourself doesn’t always mean having an office, a team, a website or even a business name. And it doesn’t always involve having multiple clients. […]
The Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) was introduced to combat tax fraud by getting contractors to “tax” subbies at source. The construction industry is the only industry in the UK where this happens – hence why it is called the Construction Industry Scheme. Under the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS), a contractor makes deductions before issuing payment […]