Beyond the job boards: direct end-client work
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Agencies serve a function — but they take 15–25% margin and add a compliance layer that sometimes mislabels your status. Direct end-client relationships remove both, and are how most contractors at £700+/day actually operate.
Channels that work
- Conversion: the highest-yield channel — do a great agency-sourced contract, then get hired directly at renewal (check your contract for a transfer-fee clause first)
- Network: ex-colleagues who became hiring managers; most £800+ day rates move by introduction
- LinkedIn presence: posts about your actual specialism, not "available for projects" spam
- Frameworks: G-Cloud, MCF3, DOS — public-sector direct engagement with published day rates
- Your own site: case studies with numbers beat any CV
The compliance upside
Direct B2B engagement with a genuine client (especially a small one — check the size test) puts status back on your side of the table under Chapter 8 self-assessment. Combined with a clean contract, that's both more money and more control.
The honest catch
Direct sourcing is a pipeline, not a tap: 6–18 months of consistent presence before it reliably fills gaps. Run it alongside board work — the alerts keep the agency pipeline full while you build.
Frameworks without the mystery
Public-sector frameworks (G-Cloud 14, MCF3, DOS) let you sell directly to government clients without an agency margin. Entry is paperwork, not sales: a compliant service description, pricing sheet, and security answers. Day rates are published, payment is reliable, and status is assessed B2B. The trade-off is pipeline visibility — frameworks publish who won, not who's buying, so you still need outreach. Combine: framework presence for credibility and inbound, direct network for flow, and the live board for market-rate intelligence. Track your pipeline in weeks, not months: three conversations a week compounds into a direct-client practice within a year.
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