This was the powerful title given to this year’s IPSE Policy Conference which was held in Central London earlier this week. Our Managing Director, John Lyon was in attendance and they packed a lot in to the full day.
IPSE Policy Conference
The morning session, titled ‘Economic growth and self-employment’ began with a discussion on the tax system and if it reflects the way we are working in the 21st century. There was then a question time with MP’s and a discussion on Europe from a business perspective.
After a fairly intense morning, there was a break for lunch and then into the afternoon session titled ‘The evolution of the way we work’. Five freelancers took to the stage to talk about their experiences. All working in different sectors, they spoke about what it’s like to work from home, finding their first client and much more.
Kelly Gilmour-Grassam, IPSE Aspire Freelancer of the Year was one of the five freelancers to share her experiences. Kelly, a freelance copywriter, recently shared some advice on our blog earlier this month which you can read by clicking here.
Following on, there was then an opportunity for those in the room to give policy experts and politicians ideas on policies surrounding self-employment and gather audience opinion. To conclude the day the closing words came from BBC’s Working Lunch presenter, Declan Curry and IPSE CEO Chris Byrce.
What is a freelancer?
Leaving the conference the marketing team were kindly passed on the literature that was provided by IPSE and there are some really interesting comments and statistics. Only 2% of those surveyed would want to make the switch back to an employee with 79% turning to freelancing so they could be their own boss. However what stands out is that there is no official, or widely accepted, definition of freelance status that exists in the UK.
For the purpose of a recent IPSE report, freelancers were defined as;
‘Self Employed workers without employees working in a range of managerial, professional and technical occupations.’
Would you agree with this definition and more importantly what do you call yourself?
We’ve used the strapline ‘specialist contractor accountants’ for many years as we started out due to the demand from IT and Engineering contractors for a specialist accountant, but as the flexible workforce increases and moves into new areas, we are increasingly working with clients that wouldn’t call themselves a contractor. The way we work means we can help you whatever you call yourself.
Talk to us online about the benefits of working with accountants that understand the way you work and the legislation affecting you, that not even you might be aware of.
