Social distancing, self isolation and empty shelves in supermarkets. Welcome to the new norm. As freelancers adapt to the changes in their lives, Freelancer Club is doing exactly the same. When I started Freelancer Club more than 5 years ago, we had one simple mission: to support creative freelancers and we remain committed to this mission now more than ever. We've been listening to you, brainstorming ideas and working hard to adapt to the corona crisis. Below is an outline of the changes we've made to Freelancer Club membership. 

IR35 has been postponed for 1 year. It's official. Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Steve Barclay, has announced that IR35 will be deferred until April 2021. This is very welcome news for freelancers who have already been directly and indirectly impacted by IR35.

Freelancers have been an afterthought for far too long. The government continually undermines the value of the 5 million self-employed individuals in the UK with harmful policy changes, token gestures and empty promises. A risky strategy when one considers that freelancers make up around 15% of the UK workforce. Amide the current coronavirus crisis, the government have provided support to the self-employed but, in our opinion, not enough so we've decided to take action and we're asking our members to join us.

Freelancers who write, shoot, design, style, dance, paint faces and just about anything else can benefit from working with magazines. However, not every magazine operates in the same way. From independent passion products to international publications, the manner in which they engage with freelancers can vary dramatically. We spoke to a wide range of magazines across the travel, fashion, employment, and music industries to discuss their business model, their way of working with freelancers and what the future holds for the magazine industry. 

Considering the number of column inches dedicated to Brexit, we are still no clearer to understanding the true impact of the most divisive decision the UK has made in decades. Freelancers have been largely overlooked in conversations about how British businesses and workers will be affected post-Brexit. Taking into account the number of freelancers who have clients in the EU, regularly provide professional services throughout Europe and contribute billions to the UK economy, it’s no wonder the self-employed community are a little on edge. 

Freelancing can be a liberating form of work which frees you from the restraint of the 9 to 5 daily grind; it's an easier way to pursue your passion allowing you to work at your own pace. However, freelancing is an unharnessed field with great potential for growth and development in the coming year.

On the 25th of May 2018, GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) will introduce a data protection law framework across the EU that aims to put citizens back in control of their personal data. This doesn’t sound like it will have much of an impact on freelancers, and content creators, until we dissect the question, ‘what is personal data?’. Let’s break it down.

Do you have a suggestion, idea or thought that you'd like to share about Freelancer Club? Let us know, we love hearing your ideas about how we can improve the membership.