Giant have been around since 1992 and provide several services to recruitment agencies, freelancers and contract workers. They provide an umbrella solution referred to as giant strongbox and have an easy to use website containing lots of information surrounding the industry.
Our experience
Our call to Giant was answered by a very positive, friendly, professional and knowledgeable staff member. The first thing that Giant asked us was our personal details, followed by our rate, and contract information. We were congratulated on receiving our new contract offer and then Giant explained how their umbrella solution strongbox could help us. They informed us that there are two types of expenses, billable and non billable expenses. Billable expenses are refunded by the end client or agency and non billable are able to be claimed through the umbrella company.
When you contract through Giant you will be able to claim expenses that are wholly, necessarily and exclusively for the purpose of your contract. There is a meal allowance that can be offset for contractors, which depends on your working practices as to how much you can receive. Giant asked us numerous times if everything was making sense so far, a real nice touch...
We were asked a few questions to make sure that we qualified to use their umbrella service:
1) If we are happy with the service received from Giant on this contract would we have the intention on using them again for future contract work?
2) Do we think our contract is going to be under 2 years long in duration initially?
3) In the past 6 months had we worked at this work location before?
Our answers to these questions determined that we were able to offset our expenses so Giant proceeded to give us a personal illustration based upon our rate of pay, number of hours and the expenses we were entitled to. We were made aware that we would need to send in receipts for some expense claims. Claims where Giant did not need the receipts they advised us that we should always retain them for our records. We were really qualified well by the Giant employee, they had an excellent telephone manner and knew exactly the right questions to ask and when.
Giant charges a fee of £28.00 gross which nets down to £17.13 per week after tax relief. A personal illustration was given along with further explanations of how we would be paid and when. The fee includes a CHAPS payment. When you are employed by Giant you receive all the standard business insurances. You will receive Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) as long as you send in a doctor’s certificate. Your holiday pay is paid out within your weekly or monthly payroll, Giant do not retain any of your holiday pay. You will receive your own account manager and they will be your point of contact throughout your time with Giant.
You will be able to submit your timesheets and expenses online through your web portal. We requested an email from Giant with further information and the personal illustration. This was received within a few minutes and contained everything they said it would.
Overall umbrelladetective.com found Giant to offer a fantastic customer experience; their unique approach to question handling will ensure that you always fully understand their processes. We really could not find a fault with Giant as they are priced according to the service offered, have a great attitude towards compliance and know exactly what they are doing. That will become very clear when you have your own dealings with them.
