Avoid - most incompetent company I have ever dealt
I used them for my limited company but they were the most incompetent company I have ever dealt with. They had a great initial sales pitch, but that's where the positives end. Just a few of the issues I had - both my bank account set-up and VAT registration were somehow lost at the start of my time with them, which caused me huge issues for the 1st year. I could never contact any accountant by phone (you have to use a switchboard) and the accountant you wish to talk to was usually unavailable. They also forgot to submit VAT to HMRC (multiple times), leading me to get warning letters from them, even though I had paid the correct amount. They take up to 6 months to submit corporation tax after having received all information (and having followed up multiple times). They also failed to answer 90% of the questions I asked by email and just responded with a generic email template response (it was like communicating with robots). The worse thing however was that they almost cost me to lose a property I was purchasing, as they took a couple of months (apparently this was fast tracked) to turn round some of my accounts that were required by my mortgage company. I dealt with over 50 employees during my time with them (no joke), who seemed to constantly leave the company, even though when I signed up I was told that I would have a dedicated accountant. This means there is no accountability and due to them using generic mailboxes and not adding their name at the bottom of emails they send, you do not know who you are communicating with and who has made mistakes on your account. I can only assume from this that the company hire a large amount of trainees/graduates (there also seemed to be an exhaustive review process of anything they produced for submission to HMRC). If not, then the turnover is ridiculous and there is obviously some reason for this. It took me a while to realise that some of the above had taken place and I did submit written and verbal complaints to them, but was always given an excuse as to why it had happened (and was never given any reimbursement). Please also read the negative reviews on Trustpilot and avoid this company - https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/umbrella.co.uk. I am also highly skeptical of how they have managed to get their positive reviews on there.