23rd November 2009 declared National Freelancers Day

What is National Freelancers Day?
Freelancers provide flexible solutions and are working hard with their clients to assist economic recovery.  In a drive to gain wider recognition for the contribution that freelancers, consultants and contractors make to the UK economy, PCG has declared 23rd November as National Freelancers Day.

 National Freelancers Day will:

• Highlight this flexible, agile and expert community to UK businesses, educating on how to engage and work with freelancers to help beat the credit crunch
  
• Celebrate Freelancing as a valid career choice, highlighting the community and support network
  
• Underpin that to unlock the full potential of freelancing, Government must recognise that freelancers are in business and entitled to clear and fair taxation laws
  

National Freelancers Day will see a number of events taking place for freelancers across all sectors.  PCG envisages that these events will bring together, and emphasise the importance of, the UK’s freelance workforce.  

In tandem, PCG will also be calling on its members and the broader community to talk about what it means to be a freelancer and to spread the word through as many channels as possible.  National Freelancing Day will educate the country about freelancing and embrace all interested in the freelance way of working - providing advice on hiring freelancers, becoming freelance and on how to make a success of freelancing.

If you want to support National Freelancers Day, let us know. Any ideas you have on how we should mark National Freelancers Day please feed back to us. Email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

NATIONAL FREELANCERS DAY LOGO NOW AVAILABLE  - download here and use it to show your support and to promote the day. When using the logo, please link the image back to www.nationalfreelancersday.org.uk.

More information about National Freelancers Day will be available over the coming months so keep an eye out!

A dedicated website will be launched later in the year.

What is Freelancing?
There are an estimated 1.4 million freelance workers in the UK. Freelancing has grown in importance to the UK economy: in 1998 there were only an estimated 1.25 million freelance workers in the UK. Freelancer numbers have increased by 14 percent in a decade.

Freelancers can be said to:

• Be neither employers nor employees
• Be skilled professional workers
• Supply services to a range or succession of clients
• Have commercial (“self-employed”) relationships with their clients
• Work for a fee
  

There is no such thing as “a typical freelancer”. While they share the key characteristics that make them freelance, beyond this freelancers are an extremely diverse group:

• many different terms are used to describe them in many different sectors, including “freelancer”, “contractor”, “portfolio worker”, “consultant”, “own account worker” and many more
• they use a range of legal forms, including limited companies, sole traderships, partnerships, umbrella companies and others.
  

The UK contains approximately 1.4 million freelance workers. Of these, 62% are male, 38% female.

• this distribution appears to be uneven across different occupations
• men appear prevalent in management, IT, engineering and broadcasting
• women appear prevalent in translation services, as proofreaders and editors in book publishing
  

This figure includes:

• self-employed workers and directors of limited companies without employees, workers who use PAYE umbrella companies
• workers in Standard Occupational Classification major groups 1-3 ONLY
• workers with both organisational and personal clients
• workers with multiple and single clients
• workers with contracts of varying length
• workers who are freelance in either their primary or secondary paid work role, on either a full-time or part-time basis
  

( Statistics are drawn from the report ‘Defining and Estimating the Size of the UK Freelance Workforce’ produced for PCG by John Kitching and David Smallbone of the Small Business Research Centre, Kingston University - the full report is downloadable here)

Why we need freelancing
Freelancing developed because businesses sometimes need resources more flexible than can be acquired under terms of employment. There is a whole range of reasons for these needs: the skills needed might be specialised and not part of the client’s normal requirements; there may be a project of limited or even uncertain duration; and so on.

In acquiring these skills on a non-permanent basis, the costs and responsibilities associated with employment are usually inappropriate. Freelance contractors are prepared to provide these resources as a service, taking on board the concomitant business risks. This has proved beneficial for many reasons.

• The clients gained because they had the flexibility they needed
• Contractors gained because they had the advantages of being in business, such as career advancement and a more flexible lifestyle
• Employees gained because they could be given their rights without damaging employers’ competitiveness
• Government gained because it could award employees such rights without wreaking economic damage
• The UK gained because these developments gave rise to a more flexible economy than would otherwise have existed.
  

Why Freelancing needs more recognition
The one in seven UK workers who have chosen to work for themselves, doing whatever it is they do well, for a succession of clients, without wanting or needing to "grow a business" of their own, have hitherto been largely invisible to policy makers. It is this lack of understanding of our sector that has led to measures such as IR35 and S660A. A major part of PCG's role is to ensure that the voices of those who provide their services on a commercial basis are heard in Westminster, Whitehall, Brussels and beyond. Freelance working as it happens in the UK does not really happen anywhere else in Europe. The competitive advantage afforded the UK by its highly skilled, highly mobile and highly flexible freelance workforce must be nurtured and protected.

What does PCG do?
PCG is an independent not-for-profit professional association.  Its mission is representing, supporting and promoting the freelance community, with specific attention to the needs of those freelancers who are members of PCG. We aim to be the ultimate authority on the issues that affect the freelance community and strive for freelancing to be valued and respected as a legitimate option and a vital force for the UK economy.

PCG represents its members by:

• interpreting key items of legislation or regulation and campaigning with both passion and pragmatism for change where appropriate
• consulting with and lobbying government at national and European level, providing expert input into sector issues, thus helping to influence policy decisions
• funding key legal cases with the aim of maintaining a body of case law for the benefit of freelancers.
  

PCG supports its members by providing:

• tax and legal helplines
• specialist guidance on freelance tax, regulatory and business matters
• downloadable contract templates to help mitigate risks, including IR35
• a community for members to share experiences and knowledge via on-line forums in addition to formal and informal regional meetings
• expert advisers during tax investigations and cover for professional fees incurred
• preferential rates negotiated with third party suppliers on key necessities for freelancers, to facilitate members’ commercial development.
  

PCG promotes its members’ interests by:

• consistently positioning freelancing as a legitimate method of working, vital to the UK economy
• providing best practice guidance to agencies and end-clients that engage freelancers
• raising awareness of the value of the freelance workforce through far reaching PR and advertising.  
  

Further information:

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Guide to freelancing

More about the freelance marketplace

Support available from PCG