Testimonials

Spring Statement 2025 affects contractors in potentially numerous ways – with ten devils in the detail, but it didn’t live up to its billing.

How are Spring Statement experts who didn’t respond responding?

Rachel Reeves’s second fiscal statement was such a damp squib that:

• · a technical tax officer told ContractorUK they were too “underwhelmed” to comment.
• · a senior employment law partner asked ContractorUK, “Have I missed something?”
• · an agency boss told ContractorUK that the chancellor’s speech sent them into a “dream” of IR35 reform being repealed.

How long was Spring Statement 2025?

The extremely short duration of Reeves’s statement – just over 33 minutes – is partly behind the feeling of underwhelm.

For context, the longest UK Budget speeches have been over four hours, and the shortest (until now) was 45 minutes (Disraeli, 1867).

Why was Spring Statement 2025 so short?

Yesterday, Reeves reiterated to MPs Labour’s commitment to “deliver just one major fiscal event a year.”

Spring Statement 2025 is the first “Spring Forecast” -- as officials are trying to rebrand it, to seemingly ‘go light’ to help achieve that commitment.   

Further explaining its brevity, Spring Statement 2025 “does not contain any further tax increases,” the chancellor said in her speech. 

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The boss of the world’s biggest building society has said women who work from home potentially put their career growth in jeopardy.

Debbie Crosbie, Chief Executive of Nationwide, also said that given a choice, women are less likely than men to go into the office.And that’s problematic for women’s career progression, she hinted, as “being seen…is a really important part of development.”

'Development-watching'

Speaking to Radio 4’s Today programme, Crosbie also said “development-watching” — her term for observing leaders up close — was “vital learning” denied by working from home.

Crosbie’s suggestion is that a “physical presence” in the workplace is the key to getting promoted.

‘Up to 40% of end-users now encouraging office-time’

A jobs agency recruiting IT contractors for London’s Square Mile, Bowers Partnership, says it received “fewer” fully remote roles in January 2025.

“[While] hybrid working is still going strong, particularly in tech…around 30-40% of our clients are encouraging more office-time,” the agency’s founder Natalie Bowers told Women in Tech.

‘A lot more flexibility given, post-pandemic’

In her BBC interview, the building society boss said: “Post the pandemic, there has been a lot more flexibility given; not just to people who have child caring responsibilities but also to people who have either caring responsibilities.

“I’m a great fan of that. I just think that we’ve got to be really careful of making sure women get the chance to be present in the business-place as well, because being seen – and then seeing other leaders – is a really important part of their development. We need to be careful that we don’t inadvertently prevent women from taking opportunities by [them] not being in the office”.

‘Flexibility, a huge draw for women in tech’

The boss of Bowers Partnership added: “Smart companies realise that flexibility is a huge draw for top talent, especially women in tech.

“Why? Because it’s much less about Zoom calls in pyjamas, and much more about accessibility, balance, and breaking down barriers.

“For some, it’s also about avoiding costly, stressful, inefficient commuting while for others, it’s about juggling family commitments. Options on how you work — not mandating where — send a clear signal that a company or employer values its workers’ time and wellbeing.”

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If you’ve worked in tech or finance, you know the drill. There’s always a ‘go-to’ person who gets the big projects, leads the meetings, and, often enough, earns the promotions.

But if you look around, how often is that person a woman? And when women are being promoted or being made visible, how often is their work front and centre? Not nearly enough. That’s the visibility gap in a nutshell — and it’s holding back women in tech, big time, writes Natalie Bowers , founder of niche tech recruiters Bowers Partnership.

The gritty truth: women's work isn't always seen

The visibility gap isn’t just a quiet, little oversight; it’s more like the office’s unspoken secret.

In my years of recruiting, I’ve seen plenty of situations where talented women are overlooked for major projects, despite clearly being the right fit.

Too often, their work gets lumped into the background, and they are left without credit.

A woman can develop a game-changing solution, get the project across the finish line, and…barely get so much as a nod in the organisation’s next update!

The wealth and investments sector is leading the way on female tech leadership roles

Interestingly, within the investments and wealth sector, many IT director and Chief Technology Officer roles are now held by women — a promising sign that some sectors are leading the way.

Often, ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) principles are behind this shift, as companies increasingly prioritise diversity as part of their social and governance goals.

But across the broader UK tech landscape, women still represent only 5% of leadership positions.

While some sectors may be setting a positive example, there’s much more to be done.

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"The most professional firm I have come across by far. From being made aware of the role to getting interviewed and hired was so seamless. When I say Natalie knows her Clients, I mean she really KNOWS them. The whole team are so friendly and helpful it is always a pleasure. I had been searching for a niche role for so long, one conversation and that was that. Other companies need to aspire to the standards set by Bowers Partnership. Thank you team!!"

As Recruiters for the Investment Management and Wealth Management sectors, partnering with internal recruitment teams is crucial for success. Let's dive into how internal recruiters and agency specialists can work together to achieve outstanding results.

Internal recruiters possess invaluable insights into their company's culture, values, and immediate goals. They know the team dynamics and the specific needs of their organisation. On the other hand, agency recruiters bring a wealth of market knowledge, extensive networks, and a fresh perspective, especially for niche roles. By pooling these strengths, we can deliver the best talent fit consistently.

To ensure smooth collaboration:
- ✅ Maintain clear and constant communication.
- ✅ Share open feedback and insights about candidates.
- ✅ Align on timelines and recruitment strategies.

Effective teamwork between internal and agency recruiters can streamline the hiring process, ensure high-quality candidates, and foster a positive experience for all involved. If you want to partner with us to enhance your in-house recruitment results just get in touch with us.

"In my experience, Natalie's knowledge of the industry, her professionalism and her down-to-earth honesty is unrivalled. Great follow up by her team to sort out the admin. Highly recommended."

"After being introduced to Natalie by a mutual friend, she understood my role requirements perfectly and found me a great position in the West End. Between her and her team sorting all the admin to starting, was less than 2 weeks. Couldn’t be happier to work with Bowers Partnership and would highly recommend them."

“Bowers helped me find a project role extremely quickly and were so helpful when providing me with contractual help. The process of on boarding onto the client was really smooth and every member of the Bowers team were so friendly”

"I’ve done a number of contracts with Bowers Partnership and I have always found their  integrity and professionalism beyond reproach and would welcome the opportunity to work with them again. I trust all their staff implicitly and I know that each member, whatever the role, act with complete honesty and I trust them implicitly. I only wish other Recruitment Consultants would follow their example."

"Great process, well executed, and resulted in the role being finalised promptly.  Very efficient referencing that somehow avoided the usual challenges that arise when requesting references from prior employers."