IPSE Freelancer Awards 2021

Rachel Mason

Described as “one of the most talented songwriters in the industry” Rachel Walker Mason is a multi-award-winning musician, currently writing songs with Grammy winners, Billboard Hot 100 artists, alumni from The Voice UK and American Idol, Emmy winners and Independent Country Music Association Awards winners.

Named a Woman Of The Year 2020, the only British musician to be inducted into the Indie Music Hall Of Fame, and hailed “an inspiration” by Prince Harry, Rachel is the only musician to have been crowned Freelancer Of The Year and to be given a Community Champion Award for her work creating the international arts festival Unlock Your Talent during the coronavirus pandemic which garnered worldwide acclaim for its support and fundraising for mental health.

A highly regarded songwriting and vocal judge, Rachel was a judge for NTA nominated Sing: Ultimate A Cappella on Sky One and is a judge for the UK Songwriting Contest, Strive and the Intercontinental Music Awards. 

www.rachelwalkermason.com

Read Rachel’s interview with IPSE, Overcome your impostor syndrome: apply for an IPSE Freelancer Award here.

Katy Carlisle

Katy Carlisle is a Squarespace web designer and trainer who goes by the name of SQSP Queen. She's also the founder of Freelance Folk, a community for freelancers who want to be alone, together.

She has her fingers in a few other pies too, co-hosting the 99 Problems (but a boss ain't one) podcast to tackle freelance challenges one episode at a time, and sharing ideas about living life a bit differently through her online magazine, Own Beat.

When she's not at her laptop, you'll probably find her in the sea by her home in Anglesey, North Wales.

Derek Cribb

Derek Cribb is Interim CEO of IPSE. Before this, he was CEO of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) for nearly 10 years.

Derek has broad leadership experience in a number of interim and permanent roles across the public, private and not-for- profit sectors. His roles have ranged from Chief Operating Officer at the Pension Protection Fund and CFO of Barclays UK Customers and Products to senior positions in the music, food, logistics, outsourcing and technology sectors.

Derek is Senior Independent Non-Executive Director at China Taiping Insurance UK, a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine. He studied at Imperial College London, graduating with Honours in Chemistry, and undertook PhD research in Mechanical Engineering.

Jaime Gill

Jaime took a big risk by going freelance as COVID hit but rose to the challenge with their most creative work yet. The work they did was varied & acclaimed.

Four project for four different organisations won international awards in the last year, including an anti-domestic violence social media campaign for TLC,  a multimedia storytelling campaign for UNICEF, a record-breaking circus for Phare and a new sport invented for ISF.

Most important was the real-life impact, helping communicate information to keep millions of Cambodians COVID-safe and providing support to help two small non-profits survive.

Sasa Jankovic

As a journalist Sasa tackles in-depth topics by holding policy makers and key players to account, as well as shining a light on what good looks like.

Sasa works hard to draw out the intricacies of the subjects she covers, always aiming to provide clarity and open up debate on matters that can get lost among louder voices.

Over the past year she has turned this precision to fine-tuning her Write It Out journaling-for-mental-health course to make it relevant and useful to students, which she hopes exemplifies her belief that it's just as important to give back to one's community as it is to create a sustainable business for oneself.

Helen Hill

Helen has overcome many challenges in her journey to establishing a thriving business with a great reputation.

Though she gets frequent comments of 'being everywhere' and that she's am doing so well, few know the story behind how she was able to be successful, and that it was far from the perceived overnight success.

She wants to keep sharing her story to encourage others who are in a similar position and who may just need support in getting to a place where they are happy and can be themselves. Her escape has saved her mental and physical health.

Nadine Campbell

Throughout Nadine's career, she has shown excellence in both her roles and landing a major new client.

She came back off maternity leave to land a dream client, Samsung. She went on to lead the campaign which won the eCommerce Social Campaign of the year 2019, for her work with Samsung and their partner retailers. In the same year, she was a finalist for Marketing Freelancer of the year 2019.

Women, especially those from diverse backgrounds are often held back, however Nadine has shown everything is possible with a real dedication to your craft.

Lily Rice

Lily had demonstrated that you can take your skillset and apply it to many areas. Lily is dyslexic and would love to showcase how you can use this as a strength as a freelancer.

She has worked for big companies as an employee (Nike), started up and ran her own business (Lexie sport - including investment from Innocent Smoothie founder Richard Reed) and finally found her feet as a freelancer.

Her business demonstrates how flexible working can enable you to parent and work successfully (or semi-successful, sge still can't get her 4 year old to eat vegetables or do her taxes without a small sob).

Sophie Cross

Freelancer Magazine is an independent, glossy, print-first, quarterly magazine for a freelance life less ordinary. A magazine dedicated to freelancing that aims to be inspirational without being unrealistically aspirational.

It launched earlier this year and has had tremendous support from the freelance community and in turn, it exists to lift freelancers, to build their confidence and knowledge, to share stories and connect people, to help them to grow businesses they love, to be ambitious, earn their potential and design their ideal work life.

Liam O'Dell

While Liam began freelancing in 2016, it was in 2020 that he took things seriously, and he believes in the year and a half since then, that he's consistently produced work that not only reports on the present, but has a long-term impact on the future of marginalised communities and large-scale social media companies.

He's overcome the biggest challenge in the early stages of his freelance career, asserting his own legitimacy and authority as a journalist, and has established himself as the top journalist reporting on issues concerning Deaf people.

Omar Bahadur

Omar is a creator, a sole founder who has bootstrapped their business from nothing. His kind should be celebrated as an inspiration. It all starts with a single step and relentless perseverance. The more ambitious you are, the more interesting people you end up meeting in life. 

"Pound for pound one of the most exciting young entrepreneurs in the business community today" - Asian Standard

Jem Collins

Jem started Journo Resources from her bedroom and has spent five years growing it into a sustainable social enterprise. She started with no connections or monetary investments, juggling the business alongside other freelancing that paid my bills.

Today, it's now a full-time job, supported by a small team, and they've helped almost half a million people in their journalism careers to date. This isn't just a freelance business for commercial benefit, it's an enterprise that helps other journalists and freelancers through its own success and one that hopes to change the face of journalism in the UK.

Charlotte Wright

Charlotte has worked tirelessly to turn her passion for Drama & Theatre making into a sustainable career.

Since leaving university, she has strived to learn and develop her skills as a Freelancer, working as a Volunteer, Drama Club Assistant, Participation Assistant and Drama Facilitator.

Through both her own businesses and through collaborations with other companies, Charlotte has offered creative opportunities to thousands of young people and despite no formal business qualifications she hopes to show that through passion, hard work and determination you too can have a incredibly rewarding freelance career.

Funmi Lijadu

Funmi hopes to win this award because of her pursuit of a creative, skills-led practice at a young age.

Additionally, she recognises that her efforts are being channeled despite being a student going into her final year at university.

This multitasking and self-starter spirit is something that connects her to many other ambitious professionals today.

Chris Jenkins

DiiS – Dorset Intelligence & Insight Service, for NHS in Dorset

This project has been the culmination of Chris's life's work to date, and by far their proudest achievement.

As someone who works by and large moving data from one place to another what they do can rarely be seen as revolutionary or life changing, but in taking their technical skills to the NHS and by solving the large and varied challenges in front of them, they've built not only a first of it's kind system, but also something that can have a huge and lasting legacy.

Not just for the system itself, nor future systems across the NHS, but for the people that these systems will help.

Lily Canter & Emma Wilkinson

Freelancing for Journalists podcast

This project was created by two freelancers for the benefit of other freelancers or those aspiring to freelance.

It filled a gap in the market and has been very warmly received. The project leads feel passionately about creating transparency around freelance life in the field of journalism and supporting people to freelance as a life choice.

Sophie Campbell

Memoir, Breakfast at Bronzefield

Sophie believes her project is worthy of an IPSE Freelancer Award, because she feels IPSE encourages people to push their own development and achieve their dreams, without waiting on an organisation to do that for you.

She managed to bring a book to market by herself which was then stocked alongside commercial titles on Britain's high streets. Without any journalistic training she was able to write for Prospect Magazine and Harvard being longlisted for the most coveted journalism prize in the country, the Orwell Prize for Exposing Britain's Social Evils.

Genevieve Rudd

Yarmouth Springs Eternal

Community participatory arts is an often overlooked area of the cultural sector, but often has the deepest impact.

Yarmouth Springs Eternal recognised the anxiety, disconnection and inequality faced during the COVID-19 pandemic, and turn it into an uplifting, welcoming and joyful creative project that engaged local people in their familiar environments.

The project, led by arts freelancers, overall supported 15 freelance cultural practitioners with paid opportunities to support the project to happen, such as leading creative activities, producing events and marketing.

Mike Green

Get Help with Technology programme, Department for Education

Mike feels his work demonstrates the value that experienced freelancers with specialist skills can bring to high-profile client projects, especially where those skills may be limited in-house.

As well as highlighting the critical importance of a user-centred (not business-centred) approach when designing digital services, which is a perspective a freelancer like me who has worked across multiple clients can bring.

His work also shows that internet connectivity at home is no longer a luxury, but should be viewed as an essential utility, like electricity. Future government policy-making will need to take this into account.

Jaime Gill

Jaime took a leap into the dark by going freelance as COVID hit - but rose to the challenge with his most creative work yet.

The work Jaime did was varied & acclaimed. Four projects for four organisations won international awards in a year, such as an anti-domestic violence social media campaign seen by 1.5 million, a multimedia storytelling campaign for UNICEF, a record-breaking circus and the invention of a new COVID- safe sport.

Most important was the real-life impact, helping communicate information to keep millions of Cambodians COVID-safe & providing support so two non-profits could survive.

MaryLou Costa

MaryLou has come such a long way in just over a year, making an impact in a way she never thought possible by shedding light on so many important issues.

She's a far more credible and successful journalist as a freelancer than she was in her former life as a full-time staffer and it's something she's grateful for every day.

Claire Hutchings

Learning on the job has been incredibly exciting and allowed Claire to grow and flex her business without the constraints of a business plan or objectives.

She is proof that success can come from adversity having been made redundant in the pandemic while on maternity leave. She business now not only sustains her family it also provides unprecedented satisfaction to her, because she knows she is delivering value to her clients.

Winning this award would help Claire prove to herself that she made the right decision to go self-employed when times were hard, and would celebrate the work she has achieved with her clients.

Zara King

Incorporated at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Beaumont Consulting Services may be a new kid on the block in the Healthcare Strategy Consultancy space, but they have made an incredible early impact.

They are trusted by leaders in small and large healthcare organisations to help them make the right decisions for their business, patients, and society community.

The 100% focus on their client's team, and their results, means they are already turning over a multiple 6-figure revenue annual run-rate. It's taken a LOT of hustle, but its worth it!

Paul Rossiter & Tim Matsell & Eric Gailly

This group never set out to create what CONTORA has ended up being.  They set out to solve their own problems but in doing so they recognised that this wasn't just THEIR problem, it was an industry problem. A problem that many considered was impossible to solve.

They're Root Cause Analysts and Solution Designers... they don't accept impossible!! From that point on the three of them worked together to create a common framework that operates within the spirit of the off-payroll legislation and streamlined the entire compliance process.

The platform development has been completely self-funded.

Gemma Thirsk & Cassandra Lane

The Brimful of Branding package is unique. As a collaboration, Gemma and Cass offer branding, web design and photography packaged up with highly useful exercises and workbooks.

The whole service is purpose-built to leave self-identifying female entrepreneurs empowered and with the skills they need, ready to build their brand. The work they have created and developed is enjoyable and eye-opening to complete.

People may come to them because they need a snazzy website, but they leave with so much more every time. Collaborating is the best business decision they ever made, and for their clients too!

Olivier Jamin & Christina Wheeler

This collaboration has proven success with published videos which have been seen by wider communities including Deaf learning about the history of Gloucester.

GHF were the winners of the Museum and Heritage Award for The Pandemic Pivot Award 2021. The MHA judges felt 'A huge collaborative effort with brilliant co-curated outcomes, this winning project was a real step outwards, integrating and connecting communities'.

Christina and Olivier hope to win the Collaboration Award for all their effort and collaborative hard-work to make these videos happen.

Lily Canter & Emma Wilkinson

Lily and Emma love working for themselves and collaborating on Freelancing for Journalists has allowed them to share their wealth of experience with other journalists wanting to pursue a freelance career or student journalists wanting to know how to make a success of it.

Whether its getting that first commission, finding regular work or battling an unpaid invoice, they offer support, tips and guidance in a wide variety of accessible ways. 

They have lots of ideas and partnerships in the pipeline, including a new series of the podcast in the autumn. There is lots more to come from Freelancing for Journalists.

Karen McElroy & Tracey Chadwick & Bron Eames & Cheryl Morris

This virtual collaboration of PR & communications experts was ahead of its time in building a proposition and infrastructure where clients benefit greatly from flexible, bespoke resources while allowing the associates to thrive as self-employed individuals.

FCM's approach is very different from the PR industry standard because it delivers a robust team of best-in-class practitioners with the infrastructure of an agency, but without the overheads.

FCM is flexible around duration, scope of work and service levels - a proposition that is well received by owner managed SMEs to global corporations.

Julia Payne

During lockdown millions turned to the arts to get through. Since June 2020 Julia has helped 2000+ musicians, tv producers, art therapists and other creatives who've helped the nation.

This sector was the first to close and it's among the last to re-open. Creative freelancers have had 16 months of ongoing uncertainty about their lives and livelihoods. With many ineligible for government support they've been hit much harder than most.

Julia created Balance for that reason, finding the wherewithal to do it even though, like their peers, on their own wellbeing and emotional reserves were at their lowest ever ebb.

Katie Silverthorne

Chronically ill freelancers can often be forgotten. Many of them have been forced into freelance work as they have found the job market an untenable place and regular employment impossible to fulfil.

They can be side-lined and forgotten about. Working as a freelancer with a chronic condition adds an extra dimension to the work, but one that Katie believe is more than worth it for the rewards it brings in personal achievement and self-empowerment.

She hopes that her example will encourage others with chronic illnesses to take up the mantle of freelance work to find meaning, empowerment and joy.

Berenice Smith

The Full Stop supports all genders who are childless not by choice and are trying to find a plan B, or Z.

The majority of their audience are freelancers or business owners who have made/hoping to make huge life changes whilst coming to terms with an unexpected life suffering feelings of loss, poor mental health, poverty, and lack of confidence. For example, 50% of women coming to terms with failed IVF go through PTSD.

This is a demographic that are frequently ignored. We are not all doing for the kids and those who aren't also need a safe space in which to breath.

Sarah Townsend

While businesses are waking up to the need to support the mental health of their employees, little support exists for the freelance community.

Yet if freelancers don't prioritise their mental wellbeing, not only will they crash and burn - they'll have no business as a result. Survival Skills for Freelancers reassures freelancers that they're not alone with the challenges of self-employment.

By providing the skills and knowledge needed to face these challenges with confidence, it demonstrates that freelance success doesn't have to come at the expense of your mental health.

Jenny Stallard

In a sea of 'freelancing is amazing!' and 'I earn six figures, so can you!' Jenny dares to say 'no, freelancing isn't always easy!'

Launched on National Freelancers Day 2019, Freelance Feels has grown into a trusted coaching brand, a place freelancers can come to shake off the shackles of pretending everything is OK, with a podcast, newsletter and daily Instagram updates.

Freelance Feels was founded to help Jenny make sense of her own mental health challenges  - and it's become a safe space for others to do the same. Jenny's mission is to 'show up honestly for freelancers, every day'. An IPSE Freelancer Award would show that she really is succeeding in that mission.

Markel

Markel's commitment to the self-employed sector over a number of years has given them a vast understanding of their needs and challenges. Their unique offering of specialist insurance, backed by a range of support services, offers the self-employed a one-stop solution for insurance, tax and legal matters, with award winning customer service levels.

They hope they have been in some small way instrumental in helping their customers in the sector. They recognise it has been a difficult time and a struggle to stay in business for many and their aim has been, and continues to be, a supplier on which they can rely.

JSA Group

During a turbulent year, JSA have dedicated themselves to supporting contractors through every stage of their journey, adapting their services to fit with the times and listening to the self-employed community to understand what they need. As a result, their client base has grown to 25,000 and their agency partnerships have increased significantly.

JSA are at the forefront of compliance - supporting agencies, end hirers & contractors and developing new solutions in response to a changing legislative landscape. They are supporting people through COVID; maintaining high service levels during the pandemic.

GoSimpleTax

Self Assessment is changing, and GoSimpleTax are one step ahead.

With more than 15,000 users and over 50,000 tax returns submitted GoSimpleTax offers everything the self employed need for tax purposes, plus they're constantly evolving and working towards Making Tax Digital for Income Tax in 2023 when 3 million self employed will need to transition from filing in arrears to filing in real time, potentially 6 times per year. They're going to make this transition understandable, seamless and as pain free as possible for the self employed who choose GoSimpleTax for their taxes and invoicing.

inniAccounts

IR35. Covid 19. Downturns. Umbrella companies with their skims and scams. All of this on top of the challenges of being self-employed. It can feel like the world is against you.

But inniaccounts aren't. They're on your side. They're passionate about supporting the self-employed.

From using their technology to challenge unfair IR35 SDSs, to finding your next fairer client on offpayroll.org.uk, they're constantly innovating to help bring fairness and transparency to the self-employed market. And it doesn't stop here - they will always fight for your fair treatment.

Mazuma

Mazuma have been flying the flag for the self-employed for 15 years. Always ahead of the curve, they are responsible for the changes in the Accountancy industry that have paved the way for technology, better service, and more transparent pricing.

The first in the UK to provide true subscription-based Accountancy services back in 2006, they have consistently advocated for and served the self-employed community with passion and pride.

Nadine Campbell

During the pandemic, Nadine started a business providing free business support to diverse entrepreneurs, despite being out of work herself with a young child at home.

She saw so many bright entrepreneurs struggling to scale & grow their new businesses and knew using her knowledge would be the best way to help her community. She started a crowdfund to donate to promising diverse-owned businesses and went on to secure angel investors too.

She supported this with numerous published articles on shopping small and how to support a marginalised community. We're proud to see she now has 3,000 diverse entrepreneurs in her network!

Liam O'Dell

Liam's work's contributed to a high-profile legal case against the Government over its refusal to provide BSL interpreters, not only bringing increased attention to his work but the Deaf community of which he is part.

He's also been able to condense complex legislation and legal details into accessible information to readers, enabling them to engage with a case which has the power to set strong, positive and significant legal precedent for the rights of Deaf people.

The success of his work has helped bring the rights of Deaf people to the fore, and cemented him as an authoritative voice on Deaf issues.

Rebecca Seeley Harris

Throughout her career Rebecca has always tried to use her knowledge and skill to help others especially in the freelance sector and this was a perfect opportunity.

As a freelancer, she understood how hard it is to run your own business but, also how easy it was to be excluded from meaningful support during the global pandemic.

She, alongside others including IPSE, campaigned hard for the government to support the directors and the self-employed and this was all done on a voluntary basis.

Faye Dicker

Faye believes that Freelance Mum is worthy of an IPSE Award for its Covid-19 Success Story, because not only has Freelance Mum managed to support small business throughout a pandemic, but because despite adversity, Freelance Mum has grown throughout the pandemic.

It's from scaling up Freelance Mum and developing the online and offline community, through the coffee mornings and Freelance Mum Hubs, that other small businesses in turn can also grow. The strength of the community has made such an impact and helped so many other Freelance Mums's who are struggling, it's simply priceless.

Katie Wait

Despite the uncertainty through 2020, Katie was able to adapt traditionally offline businesses for the online world, building awareness, driving traffic and gaining sales from new audiences on tight budgets.

She has created strong working relationships with her clients, and work as a virtual team member to continue their success online, as well as helping to increase their sales offline as the new "normal" begins to unfold.

Category nominees

IPSE is searching for those who have prioritised and raised awareness about mental health and wellbeing in the freelance community. Have you set up a new initiative that combats isolation or loneliness – or a new network for freelancers to improve their wellbeing? Nominations can be from freelancers or businesses.

Wellbeing Award

Category nominees

Covid-19 Success Story Award

The Coronavirus pandemic has been extremely tough on the self-employed. IPSE want to find and celebrate individuals who have done something amazing to help others during the pandemic. Have you campaigned to raise awareness about – and relieve – the struggle of the self-employed during the pandemic? Have you shared your expertise by helping a local business or mentoring an individual? Have you pivoted your business to create something new that helped those in need and gave something back to your community?

Category nominees

This Award is to celebrate a joint venture carried out between two or more freelancers who worked in partnership to deliver excellence and create something new or unique, such as a new product or service.

Collaboration Award

Category nominees

IPSE is searching for the most talented self-employed people in the UK who launched their businesses in the last two years. This award is about celebrating the achievements of freelancers who have only recently taken the brave step of working for themselves.

New Freelancer Award

Category nominees

This award celebrates specific successful freelancer projects. Open to part-time freelancers too, the project can be part of a side-hustle business alongside full-time work or study – but it must be a project and not a person or business. Examples could include an event, a particularly successful client project, campaign, fundraiser or other piece of work.

Freelancing Project Award

Category nominees

IPSE is searching for the most talented self-employed people in the UK who are under 30 to enter our IPSE Young Freelancer Year Award. This award is about celebrating the achievements of people who have made the jump into freelancing at an early age and are already a success.

Young Freelancer Award

IPSE is searching for the most talented self-employed people in the UK to enter our IPSE Outstanding Freelancer Award. This award is designed to recognise and celebrate the innovation and excellence of freelancers in the UK.

Outstanding Freelancer Award

Category nominees

Category nominees

This Award celebrates the supplier who has done most to serve the self-employed community. We are looking to hear from businesses that offer exceptional services dedicated to the self-employed – including those in accounting, banking, mortgages, loans, insurance and pensions.

Best Self-Employed Supplier Award