Author: Stephanie Whalley

Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) is a type of financial benefit that might be available if you have ‘limited capacity to work’, such as a health condition or disability which inhibits your ability to work. The allowance is designed to provide some financial security whilst you are unable to generate income. It’s particularly useful if you’re a self-employed freelancer and don’t have an employer to pay Statutory Sick Pay when you need time off sick. What is the new-style Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)? Most people who claim ESA now get what is called ‘new style ESA’, which replaced the…

According to recent facts and figures, there are currently over 2 million freelancers in the UK alone and they’re contributing around £125 billion to the economy.

If you’re feeling confused by the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) rules and regulations, don’t worry, you aren’t alone! CIS rules deal with how contractors working in the construction industry pay their sub-contractors, so it can have a big impact on your reporting responsibilities, and even on your take home pay.

Ten years ago the term ‘influencer’ wasn’t a phrase many of us were very familiar with. Little did we know it would soon become a common word in most vocabularies, as well as a whole new category of self-employment, income stream, digital content medium, and marketing channel. For those who still aren’t entirely familiar, an influencer is somebody with a large (and loyal) online following who has the power to influence sales of products and services—hence the name. You’ll typically find influencers on social media platforms like Instagram, YouTube and TikTok but ‘influencing’ also extends beyond the most popular platforms…

Remote working is no longer a novelty, it’s a fact of everyday working life, especially for self-employed freelancers who often have more flexibility to move around.

Unfortunately, the answer to the question of whether freelancers get paid more than employees isn’t a simple yes or no. There are a whole host of different factors and variables that can come into play to sway the verdict one way or another.

There are currently more than 2 million freelancers in the UK, contributing approximately £125 billion to the economy. It goes to show just how significantly freelancing has grown in popularity over the years, appealing to people across sectors, specialisms, and levels of seniority. There are lots of reasons why someone might choose to go freelance, such as redundancy, a desire to gain professional independence and ‘be your own boss’, or simply to earn extra income to supplement an employment salary Perhaps you’ve got your own personal reasons for wanting to explore the world of freelancing. Either way, it’s essential to…

According to research published by Henley Business School, 1 in 4 UK adults have some sort of ‘side hustle’ – an additional job or secondary income on top of regular employment. It seems like more and more people are looking into freelancing as a way of making extra cash on the side. Before you hit the freelancing jobs boards though, let’s take a look at some of the pros and cons of freelancing on the side, as well as what to look out for. When you might NOT be able to freelance on the side Before we delve into more…

Freelancing can be a really great gig, but it can be super tough at times too. Between managing your schedule, maintaining client relationships, going after new business, and chasing payments, it can often feel impossible to find time to do any work. “There are plenty of hours in the day”, said no freelancer ever. It’s hardly surprising that the idea of setting up a separate bank account just for the business can seem like a right royal pain, but it can actually make things easier in the long run. In fact, depending on how you set up your business, it…

One of the best things about freelance life is the freedom it affords you. Even when you’re working on a long-term project, being your own boss means you can make decisions so that every day is different. Having this sort of diversity in your work can be an incredibly liberating feeling.