Brookson One

Some of the reviews on here state Brookson One is not a genuine company. They are - but they are still bad and if I was searching afresh for a company to handle my business, I would definitely avoid them. I am under their umbrella option, so don't have the sort of nightmare issues that those with Limited companies are talking about. They do pay on time and this is the best aspect of their service. When it comes to handling new contracts, their whole operation seems to fall to pieces. Two contracts in a row now they have mishandled them - and this latest one they lost entirely, admitting to my agent that they were not coping. Not only do they lose contracts, or fail to contact their client when a new contract does arrive, they also sign them without the client actually seeing it. They have done this on two different contracts now, despite me complaining. The contract could have a zero missing off the end of the daily rate and they wouldn't care. They will sign it anyway regardless. There is apparently no way to verify it myself before they sign it on my behalf. Of course, by that stage it is a legal document. The lame excuse is that it "speeds things up". Well, plainly it doesn't. They just can handle new contracts properly. Pretty incompetent.

They had no cyber attack at all it was just an excuse to steal your money . There are no good reviews anyone who has written anything good about them must be involved because they are known globally. How do you think all of this mega organised crime is on the increase. These keep swapping and changing addresses . You really need to look on companies house and follow your name. Not the date of birth . Your name then you will see what I mean

The FCSA is not the Financial Conduct Authority. They are impersonating the financial regulating authority. It's completely different . There's nothing that can be done except put a full report into the FCA

Anyone who is involved with this illegal company needs to get out asap . It is true they are into money laundering and people 2 are being investigated globally. "Outstanding Services " they used to be called . Then "Intrim Justia" set of rogues . You'll be lucky to get any money back of them

Been with Brookson a year. Their service has been good and I think they are reasonably priced - hassle free and certainly easier than running a Ltd company. Haven't had any issues regarding payments, all seems to happen efficiently and I get paid promptly. Any queries I have are answered quickly. My only slight criticism is that it looks like they hold onto my pension contribution for a few weeks before passing it onto the pension company. Not bothered by that per se, but I'd rather limit my exposure to any third party. I suspect the reason is administrative and cost driven ... they are cheap after all. (Yes, and I've checked that they are compliant with the regs)

I'm using Brookson One as Umbrella in my first contract role, I wanted to take out a Salary Sacrifice pension. There is a mandatory £700 "advice fee", it's literally just money for nothing and they know it's the only option you have for pension. Plus the normal 2% charges on top of that. After a couple of months, I enquired to ask if the advice fee had gone out yet, as I didn't understand how it would affect my take home pay and wanted to understand exactly how it works. I've now had 2 phone conversations and had a further email from Brookson one. Not only have they not answered my question but they clearly don't know what is going on at all with my payslips. It's a very reasonable question - "you are charging me £700, when are you taking it. Let me see the payment schedule". They literally can't answer this. Cowboys

Initially they bombarded me with emails when setting up my account... After that I discover they had no intent to pay me the first friday.. when i call they promise to ask payroll and ring me back the evening, they close 18:00, nobody call... i call and after they pay. Next week the same...so some associate consultant promise to close the case, every day for the next 5 days i was receiving an email with the update that the agency i work for has not responded yet... I pick up the phone, and my agency pick up straight away... so i got paid, now this week the same but since i expected the issue is resolved i did not call any one of them, guess what ? it is friday and they did not pay....

I left them after 18 months of being coerced into a relationship with an accredited umbrella. Anyone auto-enrolled in their pension scheme, please check the value; how a fixed 1% scheme can be worth less than when it started, I have no idea. I've transferred out of it, but it's crooked beyond belief. About 3K in now, transferring out 2K how is that even a thing?

Could have been 5* Many reviews are most likely from people whom have been with Brookson less than 3 months. Their Dashboard is very good, the onboarding is excellent, also been assigned an accountant. BUT it all gone wrong 7 months later when I discovered that they have not been submitting my returns (ongoing). One is overdue by over 4 months (at time of writing). Another I warned about before the due date. I was even lied to by Alex saying they were submitted, but he said they wouldn't show until the deadline has past. I have had other lies\excuses from them which HMRC have proved false. They only reply when chased, or if it's not issue related. Had an apology from a manager, but the returns still has not been done. I can NOT recommend Brookson. They talk the talk, and that is it. My latest agency (thankfully) refused for me to use Brookson One, due to their Cyber Attack last year, I asked twice they said NO twice.

I hope this might be some hidden camera TV show, just to see how much I can take before they reveal it was all a joke and that I've won a prize or something. It's really hard to do things that bad unintentionally, their level of incompetence is beyond what's humanly possible. There needs to be some kind of evil mastermind behind their management, seeking revenge because years ago a contractor stole their job and the love of their life and their family... They are like the incels of contractors I guess. I joke because that's how I've been taught to deal with my emotions, but seriously, they are the worst. They've been using the 'cyber attack' as an excuse for their incompetence for more than one year now... I guess they don't realise how that makes them look even worse. DON'T. DON'T YOU EVEN THINK FOR ONE SECOND ABOUT SIGNING ANYTHING WITH THEM. FOR REAL. DON'T. RUN AWAY. CHANGE YOUR JOB. AND YOUR NAME. AND YOUR FACE.

I was supposed to be paid weekly, submitted timesheets in June, finally got a payment at end of August. Pension not paid to my SIPP as requested. Was paid into Aegon and took me another 6 months to get it in my SIPP. Then I get informed they had been hacked, still waiting for update on what info was lifted? Agency and UMB paying through the Netherlands to fiddle Corp Tax, I bet?

I was using Brookson One for my LTD company. Very poor services. Recently I've received penalties for late filling what was they responsibilities. They advice was me to pay the penalties it. Completely useless company.

3 months in and have been paid on time week in week out. No complaints so far. Umbrella employment as a whole needs changing though... Why am I paying for someone to pay me!?

Heard a lot bad things about most umbrella providers, including brookson and was nervous when told I was inside IR35. First week with brookson and have been paid on time, if this changes will update review...

All seems okay with Brookson, I get paid. Their portal works and the call centre staff seem helpful.

Had so many complaints already before this but this is the latest disaster from them... Just got a court order for late filing penalty from Companies House. Brookson recieved this on the 31st of March. Could have paid it if they had told me about it but they could not be bothered to let me know for over 4 months. There were 2 notices that were sent to them. 31/03/2022 21/04/2022 Today, I recieved the court claim from Companies house which was dated 05/08/2022 Then Brookson uploads the other 2 notices into the portal from 4 months ago. Not even a phone call or email to let me know. This is just gross negligence at this point. "Premium service" Had a previous issue with interest I owed for Corporation tax which they we kind enough to let me know ONLY 2 MONTHS after they recieved it... So disappointed in this service which cost a lot more than other accountancy firms...

Didn't receive my pay on Friday and received no communication to explain why. Phoned Brookson and they explained my agency hadn't sent over the funds. Brookson paid me this morning and sent a follow up email confirming payment. Wish Brookson/my agency had explained why I hadn't been paid on Friday instead of me needing to chase. All resolved in the end though....

My experience of Brookson during the cyber attack and in recent weeks has been extreme! my queries are dealt with quickly and the phone staff are noticeably more friendly. Lets hope this continues...

Absolutely shocking experience which mirrors everything on this website. Only interested in signing you up. They have been a shambles. Havent been paid in a month and a half because their account manager couldn’t be bothered to set up properly and Brookson didn’t bother to sign the contract with the Client so left it outstanding without any communication with me or updates. They don’t return calls and their umbrella team are a joke. They claim to call back in 48 hours... 10 days on an no response. No response to emails and you will be lucky if your account manager is remotely motivated. It has been hugely embarrassing with my Client who is a well known firm and advise they havent ever experienced an umbrella company like it. Stay clear. The fees are low for a reason.

Problem is they struggle with mid tax year contracts.. As I was already 40% tax payer they could cope with this, so have only taken 25% tax, messing up 20 years of making sure my taxes were correct.. So waiting for HMRC to give me an adjusted tax bill for 8 months.. As this was messed up I went Permy.. Didn't want to risk loosing my home, car and investments.. However from mine and other colleagues experience of payment companies.. This one is concidered better

I wish I read these reviews before signing up to their umbrella services. Still chasing payment for last weeks...useless

Avoid using the umbrella company at all costs, it's painful.. if you can set up your own Ltd company you will save yourself a lot of pain and money. Having to send numerous email that never gets responded to in order to get money that is owed is ridiculous. I specifically mention the Umbrella part of this company because the rest of the other departments do an incredibly good job and are good hard working people.

I've been with Brookson for over a year. They have stolen thousands and don't seem to have any intention of paying it back. Stay well clear of Brookson.

I warn you not to use this Umbrella. I am lost for words. Terrible. Abysmal.

Recently cyber attacked! Dreadful, alleged they have given me a loan. (Umbrella emplyee) they say it was to cover my wages during the cyber attack, but the firm im contracted to paid them. So they took the payment from the firm and then took it off me. They dont reply to emails, hard to get hold of, dont honour appointments. Dont help, dont care but happy to steal your money. AVOID AT ALL COSTS! Im 4 figures out of pocket Also taking my business account off them to another accountant too. DO NOT TRUST.

Missing over 6 payments now and some were in December long before the cyber attack so they can't keep using that as an excuse. My net earnings bear no correlation to the small amount of pay I have received in my bank account. To rub salt into the wound my payslip says I have taken out a loan with them as advanced pay. They have failed to transfer my pension contributions even though my pay slip tells me they have. Either 75% of my contributions since my contract started in mid November have mysteriously gone missing or they are keeping it themselves. Eventually got hold of an adviser after they failed to call me. First time they were 20 minutes late and I was unable to answer the phone as I was on a call. I had to ring their reception team after having to chase them myself to reschedule. One of those messages didn't get through at all and had I to ring them back again. They never rang me back a week later after promising me a follow up call. Again I had to reschedule the meeting myself. They do not email with progress with email addresses of the consultants who are working on a case so there is no way to find out if anyone has progressed it. Eventually consultant rang back a week later and asked me to remind him what my query was all about even though the same consultant had agreed a follow up call the week before to provide me with an update on my case. He should have reviewed my case notes before speaking to me. Words cannot describe how badly they have treated us. The only reason I want them to stay solvent is that one day we might get our money off them.

I/words can't really explain it tbh. To read everyone's painful experiences actually makes me feel lucky compared to everyone else who have heavy responsibilities and to add to the fact that we are just coming out of lockdowns for 2yrs and Crookson do this. I agree they will not be around much longer. To imagine the amount of money they are with-holding deserves jail time. They no longer contact me anymore with the B.S of "it will be resolved this and it is strange that this has been rectified by now - I have eyes on this so be assured this will be resolved this week." I even booked one of their meetings to discuss any issues and they never showed up. Booked with someone called Victoria Court. They have even now outsourced their customer service so they do not have a clue what is going on as they are following a script of try to dial and get no answer and then book a a fake appointment to get you off the phone. Please go and seek legal advise from ACAS or any legal body, I have never ever in my life written a review on a company and I am 45 yrs young. I had to tell my Director that I am not able to afford a travel card and my agency have subbed me a couple of hundred for me to get by. I am only posting this in the hope that someone else does not fall victim to these criminals and have their life ruined.

I don’t have any words to describe how bad brookson one treating their clients. They have been missed /late / underpaid my payment for every week. This time have deduct £650 for saying advance payment which I have no idea . No phone calls /emails is answered . They stolen hard work people money and I urge people to leave this company.

I DONT HAVE NEGATIVE MARK TO REVIEW. I AM THEIR CUSTOMER FOR AN YEAR. THEIR SYSTEM WENT BUSTED. NO CUSTOMER COMMUNICATION OR PAYSLIP WHEN U NEEDED. SYSTEM IS CRAP. CUSTOMER SERVICE IS AWFUL. DONT LOOSE YOUR MONEY USING THEIR SERVICE

Using Brookson was like using a cowboy builder who delivered a non square leaky extension with foundation problems. I used Brookson to do my accounts as a newly set up contractor via a limited company . 3 years of hell from 2007 to 2010. They did everything related to my accounts wrong and caused me massive amounts of stress. I beg you to avoid this company

Have been with them for over a year. Have messed up my VAT 5 out of 6 times. Since I started using them as an Umbrella, I think they messed up every month except for the last and then I switched. So that was 6 / 7 for monthly pay/invoice issues... Always late with payment and you have to phone them to get the invoice even raised. They are currently messing up my VAT, Comany year end and Personal tax. When you speak to someone on the phone, they say everything is good and getting processed but that is always a lie... Will have to phone again tomorrow and try sort out all 3 issues once again... Please avoid these incompetant idiots....

Very bad service, wrong pay several times, not easy at all to contact and they ignore emails, I can't imagine there is a worse payroll company out there, stay well clear.

I have still not been paid for January and it doesn’t look like Brookson will recover their services anytime soon. The latest news is that in addition to this being a ransomware attack, some contractor personal information may have been exfiltrated and released onto the Internet. The longer this situation continues the more at risk Brookson are of becoming insolvent and the higher the risk of contractors losing their withheld pay. In my experience, most companies facing such a devastating cyber-attack and then unable to recover will sooner or later be overcome by the reputational damage. My advice is to leave Brookson now!

Like all the other recent reviews I find Brookson's service truly appalling. Any emails they provided as part of the supposed reboot do not work, the text facility for a call back is inoperative. Emails are simply ignored. Not having phone lines open by now is a disgrace and appears to be deliberate to allow them to hide from their Clients. I will withhold timesheets until I am paid for January, they can't sit on my money then

No pay since start of the year. No apologies on their part. Not taking any responsibility. Their lack of customer service is absolutely disgusting. Payslips are showing a negative net pay. Disgraceful company. I have no idea how the government is allowing this to continue.

Let's storm their office demanding our pay. Don't worry plenty of parking there such a farce I work hard for my money submit my timesheet to agency on on time on Friday when finish, agency send money on time before Wednesday and yet WEAKEST LINK IS BROOKSON. Andrew Fahey CEO get your act and staff act together. I want my money you owe me. I understand you've been subject to an attack but coms have stopped and no one can call to find out what's going on I'm getting frustrated and on verge of leaving and so are many others

Be careful when selecting this umbrella company. They over charge you with taxes on a weekly wage. I was taxed nearly £250 from first 2 weeks wages. You cannot phone them and they don't respond to emails.

Imagine a working for a company that is behind on paying your pension contributions and then it becomes impossible to contact them and get any meaningful updates. They then miss paying your monthly salary or pension contributions. A whole month goes by and you get 1 call and they ask if you to send a copy of the remittance advice from last month but then you hear nothing back. They do not reply to email questions and their phone lines are still disconnected. On the weekend of the following payday there is no communication either by email, text, phone or social media to assure you you are now going to get paid, albeit a month late. Welcome to the world of contracting through Brookson!

Brookson, get your act together, I was due to be paid yesterday 11th Feb. Payslip been generated say says payday 11th Feb. It's now the morning of 12th Feb and yet still no money from Brookson has entered my account from works undertaken last week. Tried to call with no avail and e-mailed and used the contact form on the website. Where's My Money Brookson!!

Absolutely disgusting service, a family to feed, bills to pay just left in the dark working for free basically when the client has paid my wages

Another day without being able to see my hard earned salary, leaving my family without money, food and medical assistance! Institutions MUST act immediately, as Brookson is getting employees’ money from clients and agencies, but NOT paying then wages. I have also got an arrogant call from Brookson asking ‘why you are complaining?’ It is my right to get my wage, my earned money, this is regulated by law. It could be considered slavary if you need to work without getting your salary!

Do not use this company, they will hold money from agencies and not pay you on time. Since the cyber attack I have not been paid since December ! The agency has sent funds that they are now holding and not processing payments or payslips. They then say they will guess payments,they offer no margin on their guessed payments, but you will pay a margin on the correct payments if they ever pay. They also have attempted to raise invoices without knowing what amount to raise for and asking for maximum payment ! Please look elsewhere for an umbrella company that has a disaster recovery plan and better support for the customers.

I, like many other on here have zero faith in this company. They are applauding themselves with their great news about data, however, all we want is our damned money. Failing that, some communication with a personal update would be much better than the blanket announcements on their website. Their telephone systems are down, so we cant ring and speak to anyone. They owe me thousands and I have bills to pay. I am forced to go into savings to get by. My anxiety levels are sky high. The cyber attack was not their fault, but the way they have responded is. Avoid.

Another day for my family and myself without money in our bank account! Shocking this is happening in one of the most powerful countries in the world, where employees rights must be protected. And what Brookson is doing? They are asking people to give them their ID so they can investigate. Nothing to investigate you need to pay wages!

I started my contract 12 December and am yet to be paid a single penny (9 February). Brookson were hit by a Cyber attack mid January so all systems have been down for nearly a month. No one from Brookson communicated this and I have been unable to call them since as the phone lines are down. I had some sympathy initially but after numerous emails, all I have received is one phone call advising I will get paid. When, who knows. No apology, no timescale, no clue. Utterly useless service. I know for a fact that my agency paid them weeks ago, so they are wilfully sitting on my money which, of course, I now desperately need. Please do not use this bunch of cowboys if they are the last option possible to you. I have never felt the need to submit a review like this, but contractors need to be aware this company is absolutely, unequivocally awful in every sense.

I had to stop submitting timesheets, in this way money doesn’t go to Brookson’s account. They called me after me complaining that they’ve left me without food, affecting personal finances… And guess what they answer was? We decided to give you 60% of your salary for the time being. This is a joke! They are not allowed to take this decision without your written consent! Stop signing timesheets, send them a formal grievance and if you not get paid with your payslips you’ll have the right to report them to the Financial Ombudsman and ask ACAS for legal help. I’m also really shocked that this can happen in England in 2022!

Like all the others, no pay, lots of bills and a mortgage now in default. All you get from them is a load of 'smoke and mirror ' excuses. All the money they are sat on earning them a fat amount in nterest, will we get compensation paid out of the interest earning by our money I doubt it, we can't even get our money which is already been worked for. I for one will be telling people to steer clear of them. Even before this trouble I had cause to attempt to phone them, no one ever answered the phone. Will be in consultation with legal representatives over this. Shame the 1-10 scale doesn't go down further as even a 1 is still a +ve.

Brookson are sitting on the money paid to them from my contract three weeks ago but still have not paid me. I keep receiving promises of payment that never happen. They never respond to the email address they provided. I fear that they are fobbing off umbrella employees and that the problems they have a far worse than they are making out. Some honesty would be good rather than continued broken promises. My next step is to complain abou them to the Financial Ombudsman.

Petition: Pay employees working through Brookson umbrella company and being left without their wages, money to pay bills, rent, loans and mortgages, money to buy food. Contractors across the UK are continuing to be blighted by the fallout from last month’s cyber attacks on Brookson umbrella company, with complaints persisting about delayed wage payments and disrupted communications.

Considering the fact Brookson has not been paying wages to their employees for many weeks now, considering the fact Brookson has not been issuing payslips to their employees for many weeks now, deducting salaries to their employees without any consent, all employees using Brookson as an umbrella company should strike together against this unlawful treatment Brookson has been reserving to their employees, leaving them without money to pay bills, buy food, pay rent and pay mortgages. Brookson has been affecting families’ lifestyle not paying wages, putting people in difficult financial and social situation, without giving a clear date when they would start to pay wages.

Brookson is detaining my money without giving a clear date when they would start to pay wages. You can get free advice on here: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/work/rights-at-work/pay/problems-getting-paid/ They must pay you immediately and give you related payslips.

This is getting beyond a joke. Can you start by paying me my December wages! It is now 6th February. I have emailed and DM'd and no response. Your company telephony system is down, there is no way to speak to anyone. Shame on you Brookson for the way you’ve treated your clients. Once resolved im out. You have affected my finances, physical and mental health with all this stress.

They have left me without money, not giving me my earned salary. I’m not interested in the excuse around cyber attacks, so how I’m supposed to by food, pay bills, pay rent, pay mortgages, pay loans!!!!???? And they are keeping saying everything will be sorted ‘next week’, ‘in the next 24 hours’, but nothing is happening for 2 months now???!!! The government must protect people’s rights immediately. This is becoming very dangerous, not paying your employees!!!!!

After 20 years of your shambolic customer service and poor accountancy advice you are now keeping my money. On Monday I will be writing to my agency to stop any further money being sent to your accounts. You’ll be out of business with no customers very soon and it’s been brewing for years with your own greed.

They are not giving payslips when working through their umbrella company, something against the law, pease chek the government website: https://www.gov.uk/payslips Not l answering and not providing any info on when they would make payslips with all information available.

They are detaining my money even the agency I’m working with has paid them. They are not giving me my payslips for me to check all previous payments are correct! It is my right to be paid on time, after the work has been completed and my agency has paid for my work! It is also my right to get payslips and have a look at all descriptions and deductions stated on each single payslip. They are not answering and they are not getting in touch with me, even after me saying that they have left my family without money! Report to HMRC, Financial Ombudsman. The Government has to step in and get employees paid for their hard work. There is NO reason why Brookson should be detaining my money without giving me my payslips!

Over a month with no pay. I emailed and asked and again this week still no pay. Was paid estimate a few weeks ago and still waiting for the rest plus other week's payments. Still nothing. These people need to be sued!!

Repeated broken promises regarding getting paid following an alleged cyber attack. Obviously they’re keeping the money my agent paid to them, as I’ve seen proof that Brookson’s received payment. No way to phone them, and their portal is down. I CAN’T HELP THINKING THEY ARE ON THE VERGE OF GOING BUST.

Avoid Brookson, no communication, no payment, no sign of anything happening. A disgrace. Worst umbrella ever.

No pay in 3 weeks. No communication I am extremely disgusted with how they’ve handled their paying customers. I can’t believe I have to beg for my own hard earned money!

See other reviews below, but also posting the same here to maximize the damage to their company, hopefully as much as it has affected my family and the payment of bills. Every bit the truth, and can post screenshots of the email trail from this disgusting company to prove it. https://uk.trustpilot.com/users/5b3dfe1a4de5666d34290731 Please also look at their reviews on Google and numerous other places on the web. You will see very similar traumatic experiences with this company. There should be the option of a Zero score - because that is exactly what Brookson would get from me. Nothing short of a shambolic, poorly run, disorganised disgrace of a company. In the business of transferring extremely large amounts of money between clients, you would think, or at the very least hope that their IT Infrastructure would have been prepared for the recent cyber-attacks. But no - they wasn't. So thanks to their shoddy setup it's the workers like myself who entrusted Brookson that are suffering. It's so convenient for them that their IT Infrastructure including payment system is "completely down", but they are still able to take payments from agencies, and yet in the same breath CANNOT pay their customers!? And when they do pay the end-customer, it's a pathetic 50% estimate. An utter disgrace, and if you're ever looking at contracting and going via an umbrella company, DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT use this pathetic excuse of a company - there's far, far better out there and it's safe to say I will never use them again, and never have one single good word to say about them. Their pathetic "Key Account Manager", Christopher Walsh, sending generic email replies explaining absolutely nothing, and in black and white (yes I can provide the emails to prove it), promising payment by today, but have so far received nothing, not a single penny. This was sent to me yesterday: "In a couple of hours all reconciliations for WE 14th January will be complete & the payroll team will be working late Monday 31st January to complete WE 21st January. There is a chance this will overlap into Wednesday 2nd February but these must be complete by COP Tuesday 1st February at the very latest.” Still haven't been paid in full. Brookson STILLwithholding money from me, and not even the slightest bit of decency to reply or give an update on what is going on. I truly hope that they lose a lot of business (and they will) because of this farcial matter. Good riddance Brookson.

See other reviews below, but also posting the same here to maximize the damage to their company, hopefully as much as it has affected my family and the payment of bills. Every bit the truth, and can post screenshots of the email trail from this disgusting company to prove it. https://uk.trustpilot.com/users/5b3dfe1a4de5666d34290731 Please also look at their reviews on Google and numerous other places on the web. You will see very similar traumatic experiences with this company. There should be the option of a Zero score - because that is exactly what Brookson would get from me. Nothing short of a shambolic, poorly run, disorganised disgrace of a company. In the business of transferring extremely large amounts of money between clients, you would think, or at the very least hope that their IT Infrastructure would have been prepared for the recent cyber-attacks. But no - they wasn't. So thanks to their shoddy setup it's the workers like myself who entrusted Brookson that are suffering. It's so convenient for them that their IT Infrastructure including payment system is "completely down", but they are still able to take payments from agencies, and yet in the same breath CANNOT pay their customers!? And when they do pay the end-customer, it's a pathetic 50% estimate. An utter disgrace, and if you're ever looking at contracting and going via an umbrella company, DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT use this pathetic excuse of a company - there's far, far better out there and it's safe to say I will never use them again, and never have one single good word to say about them. Their pathetic "Key Account Manager", Christopher Walsh, sending generic email replies explaining absolutely nothing, and in black and white (yes I can provide the emails to prove it), promising payment by today, but have so far received nothing, not a single penny. This was sent to me yesterday: "In a couple of hours all reconciliations for WE 14th January will be complete & the payroll team will be working late Monday 31st January to complete WE 21st January. There is a chance this will overlap into Wednesday 2nd February but these must be complete by COP Tuesday 1st February at the very latest.” I truly hope that they lose a lot of business (and they will) because of this farcial matter. Good riddance Brookson.

Brookson are sitting on thousands of pounds of my money and communication has been virtually non-existent! I am speechless. People have children to feed and bills to pay and Brookson do not care! How can you sit on money you haven’t earned? This is criminal and starting to affect our mental health. Brookson better hope they don’t have blood on their hands!

The cyber attack just proved that Brookson is full of big words and nothing else. Contractors have been paid a few hundreds in a month! How are you suppose to live and pay bills? Brookson, as someone that hasn't been paid and struggling with bills I have to say that your problems with the cyber attack is of a less concern to us! We don't have money! This tells it all, Brookson is just unable to take care of its customers. Go somewhere else.

I very strongly recommend you do not use this company. Full of liars. Waffle. And you will not be paid correctly. That is a promise. The alleged data breach I think was another load of waffle. Payments have not been correct since. Office number does not work. Nobody gets back to you. Please for your own sanity avoid at all costs

I've been with Brookson for over 5 years now. Originally I was company now have both umbrella and company managed by them. Their charges keep going up. Service keeps dropping. It can take 3 weeks for an email to be responded to at times, and that includes chase ups. Promises aren't met. Delays to payments happens. The straw that has broken the camels back is their handling of a missing payment from last year. It is now 3+ months overdue and they keep blaming my client. They won't do anything except refer me back to my client. The straw that killed the camel has been their handling of their alleged systems breach. I haven't been paid for 2 weeks by them. I'm still not confident (even though they assure otherwise) that my personal data has not been breached.

Loads of sales waffle, very keen to get you signed up, and always easy to get hold of, but once you are signed up, zero support, no reply to emails or messages, impossible to get anyone on the phone, mess up pay and expenses, give them a wide berth ! And again today i am attempting to get through to someone to get my problems resolved, sent 5 emails, over the past few weeks, none have been answered, and phone calls just never get answered. I wish I could give a zero star review, because 1 star is too high!

Not prepared for cyber attack, poor customer service ethos, never own a problem and too many mistakes made. Used for accountancy and umbrella for years, both now overcharged and failing.

Very concerned about on how brookson calculations works for example 54hrs @ £14.00 you'll be credited £387, make it make sense or you do standard hrs per week of 45 but your payslip and whats credited to your bank account will always be less than stated, your actual earnings. Would you like to receive different amounts every week but brookson excellent service will charge you no matter the circumstances. In fact would you like to be paid late every week or not at all. Sorry, Brookson will say your account will be investigated. How do they investigate? By informing you nothing is wrong with your account. Recently been Hacked but there's nothing wrong with Brookson. Please do contact them because you won't get through but a generic email will shortly be coming your way.

They were hacked in mid-January and took too long to get things up and running again so I had to leave to ensure I'd be paid in due time. I sympathise with them because it wasn't their fault, but if it takes them 2+ weeks to recover from a hack it tells me they weren't prepared and that their contingency operations weren't robust enough. Prior to this they had been very good. Shame but I have bills to pay.

I dealt with Lucy, who seemed ok in the beginning to set my contract up then disappeared. My agency chased her, then my agency asked me if I heard from her as they never got an answer. I emailed her asking what was going on, she continued to ignore both the agency and me. Two days later I copied in his boss, Robert, in the emails, suddenly she emailed saying she didn't know I hadn't received the contract and she would sort it ASAP. Obviously she didn't do anything again. I emailed again, she got back to me saying that there was a cyber attack and their systems were switched off (apparently for the past two weeks) and asked if I was aware. Guess what, I wasn't!! Because you were dishonest about it when I asked if there were any issues when I first chased you! Extremely unprofessional bunch, I asked my agency to send the contract to another umbrella. I wouldn't recommend Brookson to anyone.

Avoid Brookson Umbrella! The communication on average has taken 3 to 4 days minimum to respond to a simple question. There is no personal interaction with an account manager. The WhatsApp service used is a good front end but don't hold your breath for a quick response. I will be leaving!

Never pay on time always making excuses now left a waste of time avoid at all costs

I have had the same experience as everyone else. Calls unanswered, emails not responded to, takehome pay different to what was expected and shown on payslips, tax deductions significantly higher than advised and expected. Generally a poor service and experience for what should be a very basic service. Do you homework and trust the reviews of others!

Absolutely useless...I can't get through to them via phone. Email communication is even worse! I'm glad I am leaving them!

Not paid last Friday despite Whatsapp stating they had been paid by agency. Has Brookson been hacked as well ?

phone lines off- can anyone get through?

Can anyone get through to these. phone lines been off for days ??

Worst Umbrella I have ever dealt with over the last 20 years Poor communication, and phone lines constantly engaged. They have messed up EVERY payment, with no apologies or follow up Hugely delayed payments, and inability to match up invoices, has cost me money Have threatened legal action given the poor service/responses Only the threat of action has caused any form of response to provide a service Dreadful Avoid

I had no response to any of my calls or emails. I worked under their Umbrella for last 2 years via STR. I have heard they pay for there agency friends to go on the pop etc at workers expense. DISGUSTING!

I started with Brookson at the beginning of March 2020. To date I have received one payement for 4 weeks work completed in March. Contract providing company has loaded their data for Brookson to raise invoices on. All data up to and including w/e 31st May is available to them and they have not completed any invoices. Even if they were to complete them today I will still not receive anything until mid July. I had been promised monies due on 15th May 2020 and I am still waiting. This is despite numerous emails. I am aware of others who are using the same contract provider (who have bent over backwards to sort this) who are in the same position. I will never use them again and I suggest others don't. I

It took a while for all the pre-requisite processing to be completed, for responses to some of my enquiries and for final confirmation to come through, but like may places Brookson One is running on minimal staff so the delays were not surprising. When confirmation did arrive, my level of eligibility was made clear and was as I had anticipated (the full allowance). The first payment was made very soon afterwards and all-in-all it has been a relatively smooth process. All the email exchanges and phone call I made whilst these arrangements were being made were dealt with professionally and politely, so it is quite surprising to hear some others have not had the same experience.

Rude, almost zero communication, will never ever use Brookson again!

Disgusting. Brookson are not interested in giving us any information. Desperate to get furlough but it's taking so long.

Really bad communication, when you do get through they are obnoxious and patronising. Still not clear on how they are making decisions. Have heard that their senior members of staff are blocking people who ask questions on social media. They clearly don't care about the welfare of their staff.

Sent 4 emails, no response. 1st one was almost 3 weeks ago. Can’t get through on phones. Absolute joke !!!

I received my last pay from Brookson on the 2nd of May. I was still in a contract on the 28th of Feb. I have been told that in order to be furloughed my contract must have ended due to Covid and not have come to a natural end. Apparently this is the guidance they have been told to adhere to by the FCSA despite the fact that it contradicts the guidance from HMRC. Even though my contract came to a natural end im not able to find another contract as no one is hiring in this climate. As a consistent tax payer I should be afforded the same protection as everyone else. I have chased them diligently on this and their stance still has not changed. I have not been able to speak to someone when I call they fob me off I have only ever received emails from them. I feel like I haven't been treated fairly. I'm a single parent with no other source of income currently and with the same bills to pay. This will leave my family in a poverty. Which means in order to avoid this I have to go and put myself in harms way to try and find another job as soon as possible which terrifies me as I already have underlying health issues

Very good communication under the circumstances, doesn’t seem to be any issues receiving furlough entitlement.

No phone lines open, no emails returned, left very much in the dark, I've worked for them via Select Engineering for years and i'm treated like this!!! Disgusted!!