In an update to its members this week, the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo) said: “It is often difficult to detect early warning signs of an umbrella company’s imminent insolvency; however, signs you may notice are late or non-payment to contractors. If the client has paid the invoices and the umbrella company has received the payment but has not paid the contractor, this could be a red flag that the umbrella company may be in financial difficulty.”

If the company is insolvent, APSCo went on to say, “it is likely… that they will have already ceased communication and will not be answering telephone calls or emails”.

Contacted for comment, the Freelancers and Contractor Services Association (FCSA) said: “Unfortunately, we are aware of a company that has recently entered liquidation.

“We recognise the painful truth that in a complex supply chain, events can potentially compound to cause financial distress quite rapidly. As such we constantly monitor the status of our members as well as requiring that they produce fully audited accounts. FCSA also has minimum liquidity requirements for membership,” the FCSA spokeswoman said.

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