Julie Deane OBE, founder of the Cambridge Satchel Company, has put forward a series of recommendations on how the government can better support self-employed people in an independent review commissioned in July 2015 and published last month.
Since 2010, self-employment has accounted for over 25% of the growth in overall employment. The Office for National Statistics says 1 in 7 people currently in employment is employed by themselves, taking the total number of people working for themselves to 4.5 million. With self-employment becoming an increasingly important aspect of the UK’s economic health, last July, Julie Deane OBE was enlisted by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to undertake a comprehensive review of how best the self-employed can be supported.
Deane established the Cambridge Satchel Company in 2008, selling handmade leather satchels from her kitchen table. In just a few years, she grew the business to employ more than 130 people, selling products to customers living in over 120 countries. The exceptional success the entrepreneur has enjoyed as a self-employed person made her the perfect candidate to undertake the task of exploring why people are opting to become self-employed, the sorts of work they’re doing and how they can be helped along the way. The review included the views of some 900 respondents, including freelancers, sole traders and those who have an employer but also work for themselves. Having looked in some detail at the challenges self-employed people face, particularly when just setting up, Deane has returned some interesting recommendations to the government.
One very significant finding was concerned with how we can nurture future entrepreneurs by making enterprise skills a central part of how we educate young people. Echoing the findings of Lord Young of Graffham’s Enterprise for All Review, Deane suggested in her review that we should use education as a way to ‘better prepare our young people for the role which self-employment might play in their future.’
Another of the key points made in the review is that maternity allowance for the self-employed should be on a par with statutory maternity pay and that an ‘adoption allowance’ should be introduced to correspond to the allowance employees receive when they adopt a child. Speaking about this recommendation, Deane says:
“Looked at objectively it seems that there is a fundamental principle that the self-employed should not be treated any less favourably than employees where they are planning to start or extend their family. Implementing these recommendations would send a clear statement that government recognises the growing importance of the self-employed and the principles of equality and fairness."
The idea of creating a greater number of flexible financial products to meet the needs of self-employed people was another important point made by the review. The banks and building societies that are bold enough to offer these newly designed mortgages, insurance products and pensions, the review suggested, ‘stand to benefit enormously’ because of the growing market of self-employed people whose specific financial requirements are not being met elsewhere. Day-to-day practical considerations also arose as part of the review’s recommendations. For example, it sets out the need for the availability of shared work spaces to be communicated more effectively and for libraries and community centres to open hubs, providing business owners with areas in which to work. The review also says that central government should make advice and support offered to the self-employed as accessible as possible. It recommends that a central portal should be created from which self-employed people can navigate the impartial business support services available to them. Speaking about the findings in her review and the recommendations informed by them, Deane said:
“The business landscape has changed so much in the last 10 years and in such a way that self-employment is now a viable option for so many more people. I have first-hand experience of the immense opportunities starting your own business can bring, but also understand the challenges that can face those starting out on their own. I have a clear idea of the way in which government can better support the self-employed. I hope this review will help others in the future to turn their ideas into successful businesses.”