Starting
BuilderStorm happened by complete chance, I was becoming more and more
disillusioned by the Excel spreadsheet RFI schedule that I had to update every
time a RFI changed status and then issue it to the team so they were up to
date. We then had different team members with different revisions of the same
spreadsheet and nobody really knew where we stood. As the sub-contractor we
were probably missing out on delay claims, as the main contractor we probably
not managing our designers properly.
The
whole process was archaic and wrong. One day things had come to a head and I
had a good old rant down the phone to my dear friend James, who until only
recently had never been on a building site, let alone know what a RFI was.
After a brief explanation of the process, James pointed out that a simple
website would keep track of our RFI's in real-time. Whilst James had zero
experience in construction, he is a web developer of many years working for
some of the biggest clients in the UK. Within a few weeks we had the basic
workings of a RFI website and it was pretty awesome. After showing my contracts
manager at the time, his response was "That pretty neat, can you do an
online diary"?..... Fast forward 3 years, we now have Builder Storm and
over 30different features.
So Why The History Lesson?
Because
back then, the end was always in sight. Just a few more months and it will be
finished. Not true! We have now come to terms with the fact that the product
will never be truly finished and that working all hours to get the latest
release out will probably be the case for a while yet. Its hard work, long
hours and stressful. But every so often I get an email from a client telling me
how much easier we have made their lives and it really does give me a sense of
achievement and put a smile on my face.
So What About The Big Software Companies?
Then
we have the big boys. Google. The software company that has "made
it", quite possibly the biggest company on the planet and the most
profitable. You have to admire some of the innovations created by Google; they
are literally the trend setters for all things technology. But there is a dark
side to this giant.
In
late 2015 a war was raging between the UK tax collectors (HMRC) and Google over
tax avoidance tactics employed by Google. They had amassed total sales of £24Bn
in the UK between 2005 and 2014 with an estimated profit of £7.2Bn (based on an
assumed margin of 25-30%). But Google managed to negotiate a deal where they
paid just £130m in tax for that period. They have since agreed to pay another
£70m on top. This puts their corporation tax rate around 2-3% of profits. The
standard corporation tax rate in the UK is 20%, which is what Builder Storm
pay, like everyone else.
Tax
expert to Jeremy Corbin is quoted as saying "What was already a poor deal
for the government is now looking even worse and it looks like HMRC’s mess-up.
I would say it clearly shows that HMRC is under-resourced and is struggling to
cope in negotiations with major corporations".
How Did We Get To This Point?
My
question is, why are they allowed to negotiate in the first place? They were
paying back taxes for ten years, not one mention of a fine and they pay just
2-3%?? How Is That Fair? We pay our taxes; it’s the morale thing to do. If we
only had to pay 2-3% we would benefit massively and our business would be on a
level playing field. As it stands, it is impossible for any UK firm to compete
with companies like Google and that can only change with legislation reform.
We're obviously nowhere near their status and never will be, but let's hope
every company can remain as competitive as these competitive giants that have a
bigger spending budget then most countries.
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