Contractors can look forward to greater recognition of their contribution to the UK economy and greater representation at a national level following this year’s National Freelancers Day on Tuesday 23rd November.
“National Freelancers Day is an opportunity to raise the profile of contractors and freelancers and their importance to the UK economy,” PCG Managing Director John Brazier tells ContractorCalculator. “It also allows us to celebrate the freelance way of life.”
Ahead of National Freelancers Day, to raise awareness of the core issues and the profile of the sector, PCG has also been working with the Telegraph Media Group, sponsors of The Freelance Lecture, to produce a dedicated freelance supplement that was published in the Daily Telegraph on Saturday the 20th November, copies of which will be available at key PCG events tomorrow.
What’s happening on the day and how might it benefit contractors?
Tomorrow evening sees Dr James Bellini deliver The Freelance Lecture at the Stationers’ Hall in London on the topic of Freeing Up Potential. After the lecture, Bellini will be joined by an expert panel that will include former journalist and MP Baroness Liddell of Coatdyke, Telegraph Media Group Head of Business Damian Reece, founder of Enterprise Nation Emma Jones and Brazier himself. The panel will be chaired by broadcaster Sue Lawley. The lecture is already a sell out and it is being broadcast live via the National Freelancers Day website.
According to Brazier, inspiration for the flagship event on National Freelancers Day, The Freelance Lecture being held at Stationers’ Hall in London, came from his experience of similar events in other sectors, where enlisting the support of a prominent speaker had considerably furthered a cause.
“Leading futurologist James Bellini will speak on how flexible working by contractors and freelancers is moving a new way of doing business into the mainstream,” continues Brazier. “In fact, new research being published on National Freelancers Day will highlight how dependant many client organisations have become on highly skilled flexible knowledge workers.”
New research and resources for flexible working
National Freelancers Day will also see the publication of a suite of resources based on months of research and development. Called Freeing Up Potential, it highlights the worth of the contracting sector and features a new report called the Freelance Career Ladder, The concept is very much focussed on contractor opportunities, choices, motivation and lifestyles and has, in part, been fed by a sequence of Mastermind Sessions that PCG has hosted around the UK from Aberdeen to Brighton.
Brazier is unwilling to give too much away, as he explains: “Freeing Up Potential will be available from the National Freelancers Day website at 09:00 tomorrow, when all will be revealed! But what I can say is that our aim is to engage the freelance community, to provide practical support and to significantly advance the policy debate, raising contractor issues to the top table of the business agenda, further highlighting how badly freelancers are needed to support our economic recovery.
“What stands out, though, is that PCG’s research shows that 60% of client organisations interviewed by our research partner ComRes would find it very hard to run their businesses without the use of freelancers.”
Guidance for key policymakers
PCG continues to contribute to the ongoing tax debate, and Brazier highlights PCG Chair Chris Bryce’s appointment to the Office of Tax Simplification’s (OTS) Consultative Committee: “PCG will continue to support the OTS. We also have consultative events planned for December, at which our members will have to opportunity to speak directly to key members of the OTS team.”
Brazier is delighted with the creation of a new All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Freelance Sector chaired by Conservative MP for Northampton South Brian Binley. But cautions against expecting too much, too soon: “Our understanding is that Brian Binley will develop an agenda for the group, which will be meeting within the month, and PCG will provide secretarial and administration support and will help to raise awareness of the group’s activities.”
Tomorrow's National Freelancers Day will lead to a year of clarification and simplification
John Brazier, PCG
Other key areas of PCG activity on behalf of contractors include ongoing consultation with the Migration Advisory Committee over the abuse of intercompany transfers. Brazier explains: “Of course UK organisations should not be starved of the skills they need, but we are concerned that abuses of the system continue.”
He adds: “We are also engaged in close work with the Cabinet Office about security clearances, and will be introducing academic partners to widen the debate and bring greater analysis.”
PCG’s future contains growth and enhanced services
Contractors can look forward to an expanded service portfolio from PCG, as the organisation’s strategy includes developing a training package to build on the concepts introduced following publication of the Freelance Career Ladder.
“We are also looking to grow new areas of membership into niche sectors, via seminars and events to complement our existing primarily limited company model membership,” says Brazier. “This will lead to PCG providing an extended service model, whilst continuing to focus on ‘nitty gritty’ issues of importance to all freelancers.
“Tomorrow’s National Freelancers Day will lead to a year of clarification and simplification,” says Brazier. “There is no better time to free up flexible knowledge workers than now. The UK needs a lift to maintain economic recovery, and businesses need to better understand the low risk and significant benefits of using contractors and freelancers. That’s what we will aim to achieve after tomorrow’s events and into 2011.”