Zeva recently obtained its GLA licence and is now one of only four umbrella companies to have done so.

Gary Butterworth told Recruiter: “The main thing for us is the licence gives us legitimacy for the rest of our business and recognition that we are doing things properly.”

Butterworth criticised the ways that other umbrellas sought to boost their legitimacy. He said it was “a nonsense” that some companies said they were accredited by HM Revenue & Customs. And he attacked the use of “spurious criteria” such as who gave the largest dispensation.

Butterworth said that following the company’s success in gaining a licence on 30 April, he intended to have “a couple of thousand” contractors working in the GLA regulated sectors of agriculture, fisheries and food.

Founded in 2005, Zeva previously only operated in sectors such as IT and construction. Butterworth said the company currently has 4,000 contractors on its books, though none are yet working in GLA regulated sectors. “We are still in the process of talking to new agencies,” said Butterworth.

A GLA spokeperson told Recruiter that only three other umbrella companies had a GLA licence. One was based in Hong Kong, one in Bracknell, and one in Reading.

However, the spokesman added: “The GLA doesn’t have an issue with umbrellas as long as they meet our licensing standards.

“Umbrella companies are seen as a way of cutting the costs of labour providers, which is fine but this must be done in a legal and proper way. If not they are unlikely to get or to keep a licence.”