Meet the team

Derek is the CEO at IPSE, and has been on Boards for over 20 years, more than half of that as CEO of member organisations. He has spent many years through his career as a contractor, and still has a contracting business, so the opportunity to head up the only organisation dedicated to the self-employed was too good to turn down.

What he respects about IPSE is that we all have a common vision, to a fair environment where self-employment is an aspirational and sustainable career option. Everything we do is based on creating that future, not just for the 5 million that are already self-employed but for so many more that would love to make that leap.

His leisure time is very much the archetypal home counties man – good food and wine, bad golf, slow cycling (yes, lycra is involved, he can only apologise) and taking his 60kg puppy for walks!

He sees the future of the organisation as being a real community for the self-employed. Bringing together the talent of the professional staff and highly skilled members in delivering their vision. 

Andy joined IPSE in 2012 and is now our Director of Policy. He worked as Deputy Director of Policy for a number of years before being promoted in 2020. He has always been interested in politics and previously worked for an MP before joining IPSE.

He believes in what IPSE stands for – supporting and empowering those who work independently and he's gotten to know quite a few of our members over the years. IPSE has given him incredible opportunities, including appearing in front of select committees, consulting directly with senior government ministers and speaking in the media.

He has two young kids and a very energetic dog which keeps him busy. He gets to play golf occasionally and embarrassingly enough, he still enjoys skateboarding.

He believes IPSE is a vitally important organisation. The self-employed are under-represented in government, yet so much policy impacts their daily lives. He wants IPSE to grow in size and influence and to help make self-employment an aspirational and sustainable career choice.

Toby is the Head of Marketing and Technology at IPSE, and has worked here since 2017, looking after our brand, creative, content, social and technology systems. After finishing his Master’s degree, he ventured into marketing at an international manufacturing company once he completed an internship there. It was there that he found a real passion for marketing and how the systems around it have such an impact on a business' success. 

Toby believes IPSE has a good soul and is filled with people that want to do something every day that makes the lives of the UK’s self-employed better. Being a not-for-profit helps drive that feeling and enables the organisation to do a lot more for the cause than would be possible as a for-profit business. It is very rewarding for Toby to be able to work at both the governmental level and the individual level directly with IPSE members. He loves to hear what people are doing with their freelance business!

He has a young daughter, so that fills up a lot of his time, often traveling to see his family around the country, and taking advantage of all the things London has to offer for little ones. Food and drink are a huge passion for him, so he'll often be adding to his cookbook collection, trying a new wine or beer, or be in the kitchen cooking away/making a mess. Having a daughter makes going to gigs much less frequent, but he still tries to get to a few when he can. Other than that, he's a sports fan, playing or watching, basically anything to the pain of his wife – football, ice hockey, snooker, cricket, motor sports - all fair game.

He hopes we can make IPSE the best community of self-employed in the world, learning more about our members and providing them with everything they need to make their businesses a success.  It’s a big ambition, but he knows we can make it happen with the team we have and the thousands of wonderful members we already have with IPSE.

Vicks is our Director of Membership and her career has been focused on growing and engaging communities. Her main focus has been entrepreneur-led businesses and SME’s but, having also briefly run her own company, she understands what it takes to start something from scratch and make it successful. This encouraged her to work with the self-employed!

Her favourite thing about the role is the people, she loves meeting people that are passionate about what they do, understanding their challenges and then playing a small part in their growth and development. She also fully believes in the power of the network and how people helping people makes a huge difference to all aspects of life.

Vicks is passionate about British Wine, so she can often be found supporting local vineyards. She's also a big foodie so she likes to have friends over and spend time with her family and their dog.

Her goals are to continue evolving IPSE to ensure it’s the organisation of choice for all self-employed people and that it offers great value to members now and in the future.

Sarah is Head of Events at IPSE and has worked for membership associations for almost her whole career. She enjoys creating events for members, enabling them to meet each other and grow their businesses.

Her favourite thing within her role at IPSE is hosting the IPSE Freelancer Awards. It’s a time to celebrate the achievements of freelancers, and it’s clear to see the positive outcomes that being nominated for an Award has on a freelance business. The joy when someone finds out they have won an Award is special!

In her spare time you’ll find her at the allotment, socially playing tennis, catching up with family & friends and aimlessly watching a wide variety of property shows.

IPSE’s role will continue to be more important than ever, having an impact on Government policy In helping the self-employed sector to thrive. Sarah would love to put on more valuable events for members, enabling them to meet each other and supporting them on their freelance journey.

Our Head of Membership, Kristina, joined IPSE eight years ago after leaving a career in the retail industry. She knew that she wanted to forge a new career where she was more connected to people and she found this in IPSE’s membership team. Over the years she has worked her way up to Head of Membership but what she has always loved, from day one, is helping members and hearing about their unique journeys into self-employment.

She has two favourite things about IPSE. The first is, the support IPSE gives to its members through the carefully considered benefits and partner offers. She truly believes that there is something for everyone here, whether they are just starting out, running their own successful business or maybe just looking for a community of like-minded people. The second thing is the people she works with. IPSE is a small company but full of great people who really champion the self-employed and believe in what they do! 

Kristina lives in the country side, just outside of London, and has two young children so she's often out on nature walks and collecting sticks. As she's close to London, she also loves taking the kids to museums and galleries. In addition to this, she has a passion for baking, especially banana bread whenever I get some spare time (and spare bananas!).

Self-employment is very close to her heart, having grown up with a freelancer dad and now being married to a freelancer too, she is genuinely proud of the work that IPSE does that directly impacts this sector of the economy. The benefits and fulfilment she has seen people gain from self-employment is so inspiring; there’s so much potential out there and she would love to see IPSE help more people realise their dreams.

Tina is our Digital Marketing Manager at IPSE and her role is to help spread awareness about what we do as an organisation, but also to help make sure that members get the most out of their membership!

She originally joined the team at IPSE as part of the membership team when she first moved to the UK from her native Canada over six years ago. She has now been in the marketing team for 5 years, but still loves to get involved wherever possible across all teams in the organisation! She has had a passion for marketing since her early teens, taking part in business case study competitions throughout high school and getting her first marketing role as an intern at the head office of Clarks Canada at 16 years old. Since then, she has worked for various organisations in roles across marketing, PR, and communications.

Her favourite thing that IPSE does as an organisation has to be the events. It’s amazing to see the hard work that goes into creating an event come to life. Plus, getting to meet our members in person is always a highlight for her. She is so inspired by individuals who have turned to self-employment to pursue their passion, overcome adversity and obstacles, or to simply find more balance in their life.

For most weekends of the year you’ll find her travelling around the country, playing ice hockey for London’s Streatham Storm! Playing and watching sport has always been a big part of her life, and ice hockey is her go-to for making friends and staying active.

Otherwise, she loves using gardening and landscaping as a creative outlet, and hanging out at a good pub with friends.

In the past few years, we’ve seen a huge shift in people’s perspectives on work/life balance and having ownership of your own time. As a result, she believes that more people are going to see the benefits of self-employment in that not only are you working on your own terms, but also doing whatever you’re passionate about. Her hope is that IPSE can empower these people who are turning to self-employment and continue to support all our amazing members.