In large organisations, contractor hiring often happens across dozens of departments.
But here’s the problem:
Many hirers don’t actually know how many contractors they’ve engaged, what they’re costing, whether they’re correctly classified, or even which managers approved them.
There’s often no uniform process, no single source of truth, and no visibility over agency fees or employment costs. As HS2 has reportedly discovered, this lack of control can lead to serious commercial consequences and potentially fraud.
Without central oversight, businesses risk
- Duplicate roles
- Inflated agency margins
- Exposure to tax liability
- Non-compliance with employment law
Even more worrying, the reputational risk of unethical or misclassified engagements is growing, and regulators are watching.
More organisations are exploring how to improve oversight and consolidate control across their contractor workforce. Whether through internal programs, technology platforms, or external partners, the goal is the same: real-time visibility into who is working, under what terms, through which supplier, and at what cost.
These approaches can help standardise classification, reduce rogue spend, and provide finance and legal teams with the data they need to protect the business without necessarily reshaping existing supplier relationships.
If you're concerned about compliance, overspend, or just want to understand how much control you really have over your contractor population, we can help.
Discover what’s really happening across your contractor base from hidden costs to compliance risks.
