I don't know the reason in UK/IE, but in the US sometimes they want me to have at least an LLC so that it is clear legally that they are not just pretending I'm

I don't know the reason in UK/IE, but in the US sometimes they want me to have at least an LLC so that it is clear legally that they are not just pretending I'm a contractor in order to avoid labor rules. If it's a contract between companies, even if one of them is a company of one (me), that satisfies their legal department that I won't come back in a year or two and say "hey, I was actually an employee and you owe me stock options that you gave to other employees", or whatever. So, I have an LLC, and if the company wants to use that, they do. Not everybody requires it, but I notice that the ones with a legal department are more likely to. Not saying that's the issue in UK/IE, but it may be something analogous. To prove (to them and the gov't) that you're actually a freelancer, perhaps you need to make your own company? IANAL, just an idea to check into.