In such a crowded marketplace, umbrella companies must stand out from the competition, but how? Sarah O’Toole, Operations Director at Churchill Knight Umbrella, explains more about what makes Churchill Knight Umbrella the best umbrella company for recruitment agencies to add to their Preferred Supplier List (PSL) by explaining more about our SafeRec certification. Please keep reading to see the interview with Sarah and to learn more about Churchill Knight Umbrella’s commitment to compliance.

An interview with Sarah O’Toole, Operations Director at Churchill Knight Umbrella

Being among the pioneering SafeRec certified umbrella companies, we take immense pride in demonstrating the significance of this certification for our partnered recruitment agencies and umbrella company employees.

Our Operations Director, Sarah O’Toole, has answered some questions about her time with Churchill Knight Umbrella, the importance of compliance within the sector, and the many benefits of our SafeRec certification. Please keep reading to see the interview, which is also available on our official SafeRec listing.

A background

“My time at Churchill Knight started in early 2013. At that time, I had recently graduated from university with a first-class degree in Event and Business Management. To be honest, I really was just looking to start work for a company that was driven (like myself) and forward-thinking. It would be fair to say I found my match!

My first role was the team administrator for our Learning and Development department. Having an L&D department was a massive sign that I was working for a forward-thinking and driven company. After a while I completed my CIPD qualification, then started to facilitate sales and management training. Then, the opportunity arose to take on a Team Leader position, and after a period of time and lots of hard work, I moved into a management position. I then spent a couple of years upskilling our employees in areas such as customer service, sales, management skills and quality assurance. During this time, I also oversaw our Client Relations and Marketing departments- with the support of two Team Leaders.

After coming back from maternity leave with my first son, I was thrown into launching Churchill Knight Umbrella Limited. My onus was more on the compliance side so I spent months ensuring we had robust systems and processes in place to ensure we continually adhered to the highest standards of compliance and service for our workers.  In 2020, we officially became Freelancer and Contractor Services Association (FCSA) accredited, what a milestone that was! As time has passed my need of working for a forward-thinking company has always been answered, we are still that driven company we were back in 2013.

In the spring of 2024, I was promoted to Operations Director here at Churchill Knight Umbrella and I am so excited for the future.”

What makes Churchill Knight Umbrella stand out in a competitive marketplace?

“From the moment Churchill Knight Umbrella was launched in 2017, we have consistently explored new ways to improve the service we provide temporary workers and ensure we abide by the highest compliance standards.

The first objective was obtaining accreditation from the Freelancer and Contractor Services Association (FCSA). The FCSA is the UK’s leading self-regularly body dedicated to ensuring the supply chain of temporary workers is compliant. I value the FCSA very highly and was delighted when Churchill Knight Umbrella officially became a member in 2020. We have passed all our annual audits and continue to adhere to the highest standards. This provides our partnered agencies and umbrella employees with the peace of mind they need to use our services, knowing we’re compliant.

Once we obtained FCSA accreditation, we didn’t rest on our laurels. With so many non-compliant umbrella companies preying on vulnerable workers, we wanted to further enhance our position within the sector as a leading, dependable payroll provider with exceptional ethics and a focus on providing the very best and most trustworthy services. In 2022, we became a SafeRec certified umbrella company.

So, back to the original question – what makes our organisation special? I would summarise by saying our drive to always improve and provide our employees and partners with the very best service in the industry. I’m delighted where we are at this moment, but I am also excited to see where we’ll be in the future.”

Why did Churchill Knight Umbrella become a SafeRec certified umbrella company?

“Simply put – to provide our partnered agencies and umbrella employees with transparency that, until now, had never been possible.

SafeRec provides a truly revolutionary service. Before SafeRec, recruitment agencies and contractors had to take umbrella companies at face value. Any umbrellas that said “we’re compliant” probably are. However, an umbrella with SafeRec certification is obligated to prove compliance with real-time payslip audits. Therefore, it’s extremely unlikely that you’ll see a non-compliant umbrella company with SafeRec certification. And, even if a SafeRec certified umbrella starts to act unscrupulously, it has nowhere to hide because the payslip audits will alert the entire supply chain.

SafeRec allows us to market Churchill Knight Umbrella with a simple message – we’re compliant and can prove it. In a crowded marketplace, I understand the stresses that payroll providers can cause agencies looking to maintain a compliant Preferred Supplier List. However, now, it’s far more straightforward. I knew that obtaining SafeRec certification would help us help our partnered agencies, and the feedback has already been astonishing. With so many pieces of legislation impacting agencies, the last thing they want to do is risk non-compliance with referrals to payroll providers.

SafeRec provides agencies with a level of security that previously wasn’t available. This is then passed to contractors and freelancers, who can now use umbrellas with the confidence and reassurance that they’re being paid as they should be. Complete transparency allows the supply chain to collaborate, eliminating risks associated with tax avoidance.”

What aspirations do you have for Churchill Knight Umbrella?

“We’re always looking for ways to improve, and this is essential in such a competitive industry. We must stand out for the right reasons, and our FCSA accreditation and SafeRec certification certainly help!

Our team has recently invested a lot of time in growing our online reputation, and we have over 700 reviews (combined) on Google and Trustpilot – with excellent scores. We have reached 4.8/5.0 on Trustpilot and 4.4/5.0 on Google (30/08/2024). I am confident our SafeRec certification has led to dozens of 5-star reviews because it’s allowed us to improve the experience for our employees. We’re also receiving reviews from partner agencies, which is really exciting!

Improving our service will always be a priority. For example, we recently overhauled the onboarding experience for new contractors, making it easier than ever before to register and be paid while ensuring all our employees are confident with how their payroll is processed. We’ve also launched a brand new website for Churchill Knight Umbrella with the objective of improving the user experience. You’re on the website now – so please do have a browse and share your feedback with us by emailing website@churchill-knight.co.uk.  

More exciting improvements are in the pipeline, so please keep your eyes open!”

What are your aspirations for the umbrella company sector?

“Umbrella companies provide a valuable service and help workers flourish when working on temporary assignments. However, industry-wide, there is an overriding feeling that the government is forgetting about these workers despite their invaluable services, which substantially help the UK economy.

Rather than scrutinising the umbrella sector as a whole, I would like to see stakeholders (including the government) promote and praise the umbrella payroll sector when providers are going above and beyond to provide an exceptional value service while maintaining the highest compliance standards. On the other hand, more must be done to publicly shame non-compliant umbrella companies lining their pockets while putting their clients at serious risk of tax avoidance.

HMRC has recently started publishing the names of umbrella companies they believe are non-compliant tax avoidance schemes, and this is a great start. However, while publicly outing these companies is a good move, the government should also acknowledge the umbrellas that provide compliant services with a perfect track record. This will help temporary workers pick a trustworthy umbrella and reduce the number of tax avoidance schemes.

From Churchill Knight Umbrella’s perspective, we can only continue to abide by the highest standards. We’re incredibly proud to be an accredited member of the FCSA and a SafeRec certified umbrella company, but this doesn’t mean we won’t look for additional ways to improve our internal processes and enhance the experience we offer partnered agencies and temporary workers.”

What would you say to stakeholders (recruitment agencies and temporary workers) who are not aware of SafeRec and the benefits of referring to a SafeRec certified umbrella company?

“SafeRec offers agencies and contractors a completely new level of reassurance and transparency. An umbrella company saying they’re compliant is one thing. However, SafeRec allows umbrellas like the Churchill Knight Umbrella to prove we are paying workers compliantly and we have nowhere to hide. This level of transparency is extremely exciting, and any agency that values compliance like we do should only engage with SafeRec certified umbrella companies. The same applies to contractors and freelancers – being told they’re being paid correctly is great, but the audit reports they receive every time they’re paid is the proof they need to work with complete peace of mind.

SafeRec is a game-changer, and I am so pleased that Churchill Knight Umbrella became one of the first SafeRec certified umbrella companies in the sector.”

Sarah O’Toole, Operations Director at Churchill Knight Umbrella has answered the questions above.

Adding Churchill Knight Umbrella to your recruitment agency’s Preferred Supplier List (PSL)

Churchill Knight Umbrella is a leading UK-based umbrella company with a commitment to compliance and exceptional service. We’re proud of the reputation we have built within the sector and we’re both FCSA accredited and SafeRec certified.

To learn more about our umbrella payroll service and the many benefits we can provide your recruitment agency and temporary candidates (including salary sacrifice and access to Churchill Knight Rewards), please contact our dedicated Agency Support Department by calling 0808 2525533 or emailing agency@churchill-knight.co.uk.

You can refer a candidate to us now by completing the short form here. Once we receive your referral(s), a member of our team will be in contact with you to discuss our service and to exchange the necessary compliance documentation to take our relationship forward.

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