Albany - Having Problems??

**Board Game Geek** · 25 January 2010, 19:39

Originally posted by pzz76077 View Post

One of my fellow contractors has just called me to let me know that his umbrella company (Albany) are in financial trouble and have reassigned his contract to Von Essen Consulting.

He is a bit miffed having just signed another years extension with Albany and his agency. He has decided not to take up the offer of having his contract reassigned to VEC.

Does anyone have any info on the situation with Albany or have any experience/recommendations regarding Von Essen Consulting- good, bad, etc.

Id really like to be able to reassure him that the future will be OK as he is a valuable asset to the team and we would not want to lose him, but dont really use this kind of company and would appreciate any information for anyone that does.

I'd get him to check the terms of his contract with Albany, because if they have unilaterally assigned his contract to another company, and he had no say on the matter, then they may have just given him the shovel he needs to break away and go direct with you.

It happened to me once ,so it IS possible.

As always, check with a contract lawyer, and I fully recommend Roger Sinclair from Egos Consulting. You'll pay good money, but he is the best and totally destroyed the opposition before it even went to court. Saved me thousands.

Because I could go direct, I cut out the agent and saw my rate rise very nicely thank you. :-)

**MPwannadecentincome** · 25 January 2010, 21:21

Originally posted by Board Game Geek View Post

I'd get him to check the terms of his contract with Albany, because if they have unilaterally assigned his contract to another company, and he had no say on the matter, then they may have just given him the shovel he needs to break away and go direct with you.

So there is a client->agency->brolly->contractor relationship, the brolly wants to break its relationship with the contractor and agency, sorry run that past me again, how does that allow the contractor to work with the client direct without the agency? This would be for the client and agency to sort out wouldn't it?

I would have thought more likely that the brolly having broken their relationship allows the contractor to find any other brolly of their choosing provided the agency will use them, alternatively to set up a Ltd co.

**NeillC** · 26 January 2010, 00:37

Albany are having major problems as they are unable to pay people like me, who are still owed money for work carried out in November.

They're transferring people to Von Essen, so those people can get paid for the work their doing at the minute, and allegedly trying to resolve the problem, but they've been working on it since December, and still haven'y got anywhere...

**pzz76077** · 26 January 2010, 08:22

Originally posted by MPwannadecentincome View Post

So there is a client->agency->brolly->contractor relationship, the brolly wants to break its relationship with the contractor and agency, sorry run that past me again, how does that allow the contractor to work with the client direct without the agency? This would be for the client and agency to sort out wouldn't it?

I would have thought more likely that the brolly having broken their relationship allows the contractor to find any other brolly of their choosing provided the agency will use them, alternatively to set up a Ltd co.

Yes this would be correct- client co would not entertain breaking their contract with my colleagues agency just because Albany have alleged financial issues (still not able to find any info on this).

His immediate single option is to to with Von Essen or not.
Somehow he has got the impression that VEC are not too good to work with.

**cojak** · 26 January 2010, 08:29

Von Essen Thread.

Although I suggest that your mate do a bit more digging...

**fahad_ansari** · 26 January 2010, 09:27

Albany - Having Problems??

I am a recruiter who has a number of contractors through/with Albany.
I think we all know they are having real financial issues at the moment, the latest is that they are migrating all contractors (who they dont owe money to) to Von Essen, whilst the contractors that are owed money have been put on a "priority" list and will get paid (according to them).

I wont go into a full blown description of the issues with both Albany and Von Essen, so my personal recommendation would be to find another agency altogether, or alternatively, if you are working in Europe, register with a local tax lawyer and set up your own entity.

The harsh reality is that as recruiters, there is very little we can do if you are owed money by Albany - as such, they are an extension of the contractor. Of course, we are putting as much pressure on Albany as we can on behalf of our contractors and I hope that they will be paid shortly.

**Board Game Geek** · 26 January 2010, 09:53

Originally posted by MPwannadecentincome View Post

So there is a client->agency->brolly->contractor relationship, the brolly wants to break its relationship with the contractor and agency, sorry run that past me again, how does that allow the contractor to work with the client direct without the agency? This would be for the client and agency to sort out wouldn't it?

I would have thought more likely that the brolly having broken their relationship allows the contractor to find any other brolly of their choosing provided the agency will use them, alternatively to set up a Ltd co.

I'm simplyfying but mine was as thus :

client-> 3rd party internal consltancy ->agency->brolly->contractor

The client "fired" the 3rd party internal consultancy leaving a gap.

The "agency" then contacted the Client and said "lets do business".

The Client said "feck off, we want him direct with us. We have no agreement with you, nor do we want one".

The Agency said "Tough. One is implied by association. Fancy a game of golf. We'll pay".

The Client said "feck off. We want him direct"

The Agency went to the Brolly, citing "Breach of Contract".

Brolly wrote to me saying "Tut tut, Breach of Contract"

I then paid for legal advice.

Legal advice scanned my Contract with Brolly and Agency.

Legal discovered that Brolly had made unilateral MATERIAL changes to my contract, without informing me, including adding a Breach of Contract clause 2 years in to my contract, plus several other cock ups on their part.

Legal advised me to walk away. Case closed. I was a free man.

Shortly thereafterwards, the Brolly realised that these unilateral material changes which they made would cause them massive problems with other existing contractors (and we are talking 10,000 + here) so they quickly resubmitted these changes for proper contractual awareness and agreement.

HTH

**cojak** · 26 January 2010, 10:31

Originally posted by fahad_ansari View Post

I am a recruiter who has a number of contractors through/with Albany.
I think we all know they are having real financial issues at the moment, the latest is that they are migrating all contractors (who they dont owe money to) to Von Essen, whilst the contractors that are owed money have been put on a "priority" list and will get paid (according to them).

I wont go into a full blown description of the issues with both Albany and Von Essen, so my personal recommendation would be to find another agency altogether, or alternatively, if you are working in Europe, register with a local tax lawyer and set up your own entity.

The harsh reality is that as recruiters, there is very little we can do if you are owed money by Albany - as such, they are an extension of the contractor. Of course, we are putting as much pressure on Albany as we can on behalf of our contractors and I hope that they will be paid shortly.

Not often that happens. Thanks.

(you might want to swap to anonymous login if you want to join in tho'...

).

**MPwannadecentincome** · 26 January 2010, 10:56

Originally posted by Board Game Geek View Post

I'm simplyfying but mine was as thus :

client-> 3rd party internal consltancy ->agency->brolly->contractor

The client "fired" the 3rd party internal consultancy leaving a gap.

The "agency" then contacted the Client and said "lets do business".

The Client said "flip off, we want him direct with us. We have no agreement with you, nor do we want one".

The Agency said "Tough. One is implied by association. Fancy a game of golf. We'll pay".

The Client said "flip off. We want him direct"

The Agency went to the Brolly, citing "Breach of Contract".

Brolly wrote to me saying "Tut tut, Breach of Contract"

I then paid for legal advice.

Legal advice scanned my Contract with Brolly and Agency.

Legal discovered that Brolly had made unilateral MATERIAL changes to my contract, without informing me, including adding a Breach of Contract clause 2 years in to my contract, plus several other cock ups on their part.

Legal advised me to walk away. Case closed. I was a free man.

Shortly thereafterwards, the Brolly realised that these unilateral material changes which they made would cause them massive problems with other existing contractors (and we are talking 10,000 + here) so they quickly resubmitted these changes for proper contractual awareness and agreement.

HTH

you were 'lucky' the client terminated thus you were set free and good for you -slightly different situation from this one.

Albany - Having Problems??