Recapping National Freelancers Day 2022

Last week IPSE hosted the biggest freelance event of the year - National Freelancers Day. The day consisted of a number of keynotes, guest speakers, networking opportunities, one-to-one guidance sessions and more. Overall NFD, bought hundreds of self-employed workers together to celebrate all things freelance.

If you were unable to come to National Freelancers Day on Thursday last week, then don’t worry. Here’s a quick recap of what you missed:

Introductions and breakout sessions

To start the day, IPSE CEO Derek Cribb gave a speech outlining the state of freelancing in 2022. In particular, he spoke about the ending of the pandemic as well as the impact of the cost of living crisis on self-employed workers.

Welcome to National Freelancers Day 2022

Welcome to National Freelancers Day 2022


Derek also outlined the agenda for the day. He spoke about the fact that National Freelancers Day would be split into three key areas: Money Matters, Marketing Yourself and Community & Values.

Following his speech, attendees broke into different workshops and panels that focused on these topics. For instance, we hosted with renowned speakers including marketing specialist Karen Webber, video marketer Jeremy Mason, producer and mentor Alison Grade and many more.

Throughout the day, we were posting notable quotes from sessions on our LinkedIn page. If you are interested in reading them, then access our page here.

Keynote panel - Making the case for freelancers

Halfway through the day, we hosted our first keynote event of the day – a panel hosted by IPSE’s Director of Policy Andy Chamberlain on making the case for freelancers. The panel featured three leading freelance experts: Head of Research, Policy and External Relations at Community, Kate Dearden, Founder of IWORK Julia Kermode, and CEO at Underpinned Albert Azis-Clauson.

Andy spoke to all three panellists about the negativity that some politicians have towards freelancers, as well as gauging their reactions to our latest research on public attitudes toward self-employed workers. The conversation was lively, with talk turning onto the future of work, the breakdown of the 9-5 routine and the need for government to tailor the tax system towards the state of self-employment in 2022, rather than keeping policies stuck in the 50s and 60s.

Keynote speech - Jo Fairley, co-founder of Green & Black’s

The second keynote of the day was a talk from Jo Fairley, co-founder of Green & Black’s. Jo spoke about her freelance journalist experience, the story behind ethical chocolate brand Green & Blacks, and how she turned a simple idea into a powerhouse brand.

The talk also delved into the importance of building values in your personal brand and business. In particular, Jo stated that freelancers should make their values known to clients and potential prospects. For example, she argued that freelancers should showcase incentives such as carbon offsetting travel or giving a cut of their paycheck to charity.  Furthermore, Jo stated that like-minded clients will want to work with freelancers that have similar ethics to them.

If you came to National Freelancers Day and enjoyed the event, or didn’t come and felt like you were missing out, then don’t worry as you can still sign up post-event to watch sessions back from IPSE’s flagship event. You can register for your ticket here (IPSE members can access this for free using their promo code – please contact [email protected] if you’re unsure what this is).

IPSE also hosts webinars and events across the year. Check out our event page or sign up to our newsletter to see what we’ve got coming up. 

National Freelancers Day

National Freelancers Day is IPSE’s biggest event of the year – a celebration of all things freelance, and an opportunity for self-employed people across the country to look to the year ahead.

Learn more

Upcoming events

IPSE organises, supports and collaborates on over 100 events every year, from practical webinars, networking events and conferences. IPSE sources experts in their field to support the self-employed, with the events covering a wide range of topics.

Upcoming events

Meet the author

IPSE logo 100x100px.png
IPSE
IPSE is the leading association for contractors, consultants, interims, freelancers and the self-employed. We strive to bring our members the most comprehensive and useful range of information and services and all the latest news about what affects your business.

More on