This month has been weird for me...

This month has been so weird for me. I walked into my workplace on the first of May to find out I’m being made redundant. Alongside a few colleagues due to targets not being hit. It didn’t shock me, and I wasn’t upset by this. I understood the company was hitting a rocky patch. However, I didn’t expect this to happen, especially at the time it did.

In fact, the funny thing is… I was actually looking for a new job a few weeks prior because I felt it was time to move on.

Although the situation was rubbish, the timing couldn’t have gone any better. During the meeting, I was told I’d be required to go home and not come back until the next meeting. I just picked up my things and left for home.

Once home. I started calling all my recruitment agents and letting them know my situation has changed, and need to find something asap.

That evening, I had a phone interview with the University of Exeter which went really well. So well, in fact, they offered me a job the next day.

Talk about moving fast…

I decided to accept the position which was, in fact, a contract web development position. With an initial 3-month contract with the possibility to be extended to 6 months. My agent said “Great, now you’ll just need to set up an LTD company”.

Wait. What?

I had absolutely no idea how to set up an LTD company, but I’ve always been tempted by contracting positions. I asked some friends, spoke to an accountant company who advised the direction through using an Umbrella Company and setting up my own company.

If I set up my own company, my take-home money is more. If I skip this company all together I would take a big risk, but have an even higher take-home. Call me greedy, but I decided to go alone. Of course, I’m not completely alone, I have connections, friends and family who have their own businesses and companies.

I can get their advice whenever I needed.Within a day, I managed to set up my company “Michael Brooks Developments LTD” and confirm with my agent that I would like to move forward. At first, my wife wasn’t happy with this idea, she felt like we would get ourselves into more shit and pay more taxes. However, we found out this wasn’t the case and we’ll actually be better off as long as I don’t fuck it up.

I’ve got business insurance, a laptop with needed dongles and software all sorted. PAYE and my company name and number are all done. I was ready to rock my new contract position.

Saying farewell

A week later, I went back to my old workplace to discuss what happens next. They could offer me some positions and give me redundancy pay. I notified them that I won’t be accepting any roles and I will be moving into contracting. They congratulated me and advised I hand in my notice.

This way, I would get 1-month pay and have my remaining redundancy pay which is an even bigger win. They let me go upstairs and say goodbye to all my colleagues. I was sad to say goodbye, but it felt right. There were no hardships, I got on with everyone there and I knew it was a business decision that they wouldn’t have taken lightly.

What’s happening now?

I’m now into my third week with the University of Exeter and things are going great. My work so far has been highly praised and we’re currently on target for project completion. My only concerns are getting paid and paying taxes at the correct times, but I’m sure my accountant will help me work all that out when the time comes.