A. Facing Redundancy
So, you've found yourself out of work - perhaps you knew it was coming for a while, or maybe it was a complete shock. You'll need to take a moment to figure things out before you jump into anything else.
1. Take a moment.
It can be massively traumatic and unsettling to lose your job without warning.
Be upset. Be angry. Be shocked.
Take some time to take care of yourself before doing anything else.
Seek support, take it slowly, have some lie-ins, go for some long walks.
Talk to people who love you and care about you.
💡 Support Resources
NABS - the support charity for advertising and marketing have brilliant resources on redundancy. Visit NABS
Money Helper - government resource with fantastic resources on your rights and support. Visit Money Helper
Mind UK - mental health charity with guides on dealing with job loss. Visit Mind UK
Club Redundo - supportive community for people working through redundancy. Visit Club Redundo
2. Review your finances.
Do a budget
It's entirely possible that you haven't done a personal budget in a while. Now is a good time to review your outgoings, your savings, any emergency funds.
💡 Budgeting Resources
Step Change have a simple guide to creating a budget. Visit Step Change
Money Helper has a handy tool which helps you fill out the numbers. Visit Money Helper
📖 Universal Credit
The new 'jobseekers allowance', 'unemployment benefits', etc. Learn more
Speak to anyone you owe money to
Contact your mortgage, landlord, credit card, and loan providers as soon as possible - ideally before you miss any payments.
💡 Debt Support
Step Change are a UK charity who support people facing debt and financial difficulty. Visit Step Change
NABS are the advertising and media industry charity, and have a fantastic helpline. Visit NABS
B. Considering Freelancing
If you're considering giving freelancing a punt (either temporarily or take the jump into doing it properly), here are some specific things you need to crack on with now, regardless of whether you end up doing it.
1. Warm up your personal network quickly
Avoid posting on LinkedIn that you're available for freelancing just yet.
Start by reaching out to your professional network first. Explain that you're currently available, and suggest catching up over a coffee or similar.
💡 Networking Tips
Effective networking for freelancers from YunoJuno Watch video
2. Chat to your peers
Ask around to understand the current market situation - in both freelance and perm, so you get a sense of the demand and opportunities right now.
💡 Community Resources
There's a long list of UK focused freelance communities here at Freelancing Support
And a short read on why community is so important for freelancers here: Why community matters
📖 Community
They might be online, offline, formal or informal. Some are on whatsapp groups, some are on slack, some meet-up in coffee shops. Some are industry specific, or skill specific. Some are free, some are paid. Some are for people who are parenting, LGBTQI+, black, based in a particular city, neurodiverse, the list goes on. You'll be able to find a group of people where you feel supported.
3. Update your CV/Portfolio/LinkedIn
Based upon your conversations, it's time to start thinking about your offering - What demand are you seeing? What depth of experience can you demonstrate?
💡 Portfolio Help
What to do if you don't have a portfolio as a new freelancer? How to get the best Freelancer Portfolio or CV
4. Open a separate email account (optional but recommended)
Open a free gmail account which is just for your freelancing - apart from keeping work and personal boundaries clear, it will too help you keep good records of any requests, contracts, scopes, payments, receipts etc, which you'll need once you get started.
💡 Resources
How to setup a gmail address via Which
C. When You Find Some Work
Oh nice, you've found some work - bravo, it's going to feel good, but don't rush into working without some quick prep ahead of getting started, to protect you.
1. Ask how they are going to engage you.
There are SO many ways to employ someone: PAYE, fixed term contracts, through an umbrella scheme, through a recruiter, paying via invoice, paying you via a platform, paying you via your own company.
💡 Engagement Guide
It's complicated, but here's a good guide from Crunch on all of the different forms of engagement. Umbrella vs PAYE in the UK
📖 Key Terms
PAYE - pay as you earn, where your hirer deducts tax at source, so you're not responsible for paying it.
Umbrella - a business which employs you, and then provides services to the end-client, protecting the client from risk, and simplifying income for you - but often comes at a cost to you and the hirer.
IR35 - tax law around disguised employment, only applies to those working via a limited company.
NI/National Insurance Contributions - additional taxation on your income. Different types of NIC are paid by employers, employees and the self-employed.
Employee - someone contracted on a rolling basis, where their work is determined by their employer, taxed at source.
Worker - Not employed, not self-employed, but a sort of employee without full rights or benefits, such as sick pay.
Self-Employed - someone working for themselves, generally for multiple hirers, liable for paying their own tax, and in generally in control over how, where and when they work.
2. Get a contract.
Don't do any work without a contract. Ever.
You have zero protection if you're doing work for someone without a formal contract, and there's nothing stopping them running away without paying you.
💡 Contract Resources
Here's a useful resource on why contracts matter, and what you need to include in them. Contracts - the friend you never knew you needed
3. Open a separate bank account (optional but recommended)
There are free business banking options for sole traders - you don't need to be registered as self-employed just yet, but there is a huge amount of benefit in keeping your self-employed income separate from your personal income.
💡 Banking Resources
Do you need a business bank account? No, but it's sensible to keep things separate. Read our take on things
There are lots of free business banks. Here's a list of the top ones, but we recommend looking at Tide, Starling, Monzo or Zempler. Compare Best Business Account Providers
4. Get your payment details setup
Don't wait until after you've done the work - get all of the payment details and process setup as soon as you start work.
5. Once you've done the work, invoice immediately.
If you're invoicing, rather than payroll, invoice them immediately, and check they've received it, double checking that it's been approved and there's nothing in the way of it being paid within the due date.
💡 Invoicing Resources
Here's everything you need to include on an invoice, but don't forget to check with your client of their requirements too. How to Invoice as a Freelancer in the UK
And here's our guide on avoiding late payments, or what to do when it happens. Late Payments - your rights as a freelancer
D. When The Money Comes In
1. Put money aside
If you've opened a separate account, make sure the money goes straight in there. This could be a 'pot' in your main current account if you haven't opened a separate account.
If you're not being taxed at source by your client, immediately take 35% and put that in another pot or account for tax. Your exact amount will depend on how much you're being taxed right now.
💡 Tax Resources
Here's a comprehensive guide to tax and self-employment. It's long, but an important read. Tax and National Insurance for self-employed
There's another article here from freelancing.support which tries to simplify things as much as possible. Understand your tax liabilities
And there's a calculator here for sole-traders. Sole Trader Tax Calculator
📖 Tax Terms
Income Tax - the basic tax you pay on all income, regardless of your employment status.
National Insurance - additional tax on your income. Employees, employers and the self-employed pay different types of national insurance.
2. Create a record of your income
Get into the habit of keep detailed accounts - what work you've done, who owes you, what money you've been paid, and even what costs you might have incurred in the course of your work.
By law, you must keep good records of:
- all sales and income
- all business expenses
- VAT records if you're registered for VAT
- records about your personal income
- any grants if you claimed through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme
💡 Record Keeping
What records do you need to keep by law? Business records if you're self-employed
📖 Key Terms
Business Expenses - any costs you've incurred exclusively and wholly for the purpose of running your business or providing your services.
VAT - Value Added Tax, which you're obligated to register for once you're generating over £90,000 in revenue within a 12 month period.
MTD - new laws around how the self-employed need to submit their self-assessment information.
3. Consider an accountant
Now you've got over the initial shock to the system, and hopefully have some income rolling in, before you get too far into your journey of freelancing, it's worth having a chat with a financial advisor or accountant.
💡 Accountant Recommendations
If you're looking for an accountant, we recommend Gold Stag, Maslins, Crunch and Ember. They all work slightly differently, and it's worth having a chat to understand what might be right for you.
Or use Unbiased - a search engine to help you find an accountant who specialises in self-employment. Match with your professional adviser
4. Get registered
If you've received more than £1000 in untaxed income, you need to tell HMRC by registering for 'self-assessment', which means you'll be completing a tax return at the end of each financial year (generally April).
💡 Registration Resources
Sole Trader vs. Limited Company Understanding the differences, and choosing your approach
Malt's "Take Home Calculator" can help you understand the differences in pay too. Freelancer Take-Home Calculator
📖 Registration Terms
HMRC - the government department responsible for collecting taxes.
Self-Assessment - the way you tell HMRC about any income which is not taxed at source.
Sole-trader - self-employment, where your personal and business income are all yours to use as you see fit.
Limited Company - a company where you become a director and employee of your own business.
IR35 - a law which prevents single person limited company owners to behave as an employee without being taxed as one.
Freelancer - freelance isn't actually a legally or consistently defined term, but generally means a highly skilled practitioner providing services to multiple clients.
5. Join communities
Don't work as a freelancer on your own, there's a huge learning curve, and if you're thrown into this way of working because you've faced redundancy, it's likely that you have planned or prepared for this.
💡 Community Resources
There's a great list of communities at freelancing.support/communities
6. Keep your foot on the networking gas
Just because you've found a bit of work, don't stop networking, having coffees, calls and chats with people.
E. Making a Decision on What's Next
If you're leaving freelancing to return to employment
If you've decided to step back into employment, and you've registered as a sole-trader or limited company - you will still have some ongoing obligations for another year at least, reporting and paying any tax.
If you've decided freelancing isn't right for you, you've found a perm role which suits you, or simply you've had enough - there's never any shame or failure in returning to perm employment.
If you're staying in freelancing
You'll find that your freelancing practice develops over time, you will likely change your offering, develop how you're working with people, and even consider different business models.
As you were perhaps thrust into this way of working without any planning ahead, take pause in 3-6 months, and consider some renewed business planning.
F. Key Things to Be Aware Of
1. Deadlines
There are some key deadlines you'll need to be aware of:
- April 5th - the end of the tax year
- October 5th - Self-assessment registration deadline
- Jan 31st - your self-assessment submission deadline, and any tax payable due too
💡 Key Dates
Key dates in the self-employment calendar for 2025/2026 Key dates in the UK tax year 2025/26
2. Payment on Account
This is something which most freelancers are not aware of, and can bite them in the butt.
After your first year of trading, on the following Jan 31st, you'll have to pay any tax due (mostly income tax). However, in the UK, the self-employed technically pay our taxes BEFORE we've taken an income.
💡 Payment on Account Resources
Understanding Payment on Account Watch video
Estimate your Self-Assessment tax bill Tax calculator
3. Looking after your mental health
Experiencing redundancy is hard enough - but self-employment can also be incredibly challenging, if you don't have an adequate support network in place.
💡 Mental Health Resources
Why mental health matters more for freelancers from Leapers explains why it matters to take care of your mental health.
There are plenty more resources on this topic over at leapers.co
10 things that affect freelancers' mental health Read guide
4. Finding work
It's not as simple as doing the work, you'll also need to be continually looking for new work and clients.
💡 Finding Work
IPSE have a simple guide on sources of freelancing work in the UK How to find freelance clients
5. Pricing
Pricing is one of the hardest things to do, and even established freelancers can struggle with this.
💡 Pricing Resources
Setting your pricing as a freelancer Freelance Pricing Guide
Day Rate Pricing Benchmarks Day Rate Benchmarks
6. Insurance
You may be required to have insurance to work with some clients.
💡 Insurance Resources
Types of insurance for freelancers A guide to freelancer and contractor insurance
Do freelancers need Professional Indemnity Insurance? Read guide
With Jack - insurance for freelancers Products
7. Ghosting, Red Flags and Scams
Unfortunately, there are lots of less-than-scrupulous people out there, and some may try and trick you or steal work from you.
💡 Avoiding Scams
Why does ghosting happen? Why do I keep getting ghosted?
8. The importance of community
I'm not going to get bored of labouring this point - having people you can talk to, ask questions of, and get input and insights from - is ESSENTIAL, especially if you find yourself thrown into self-employment without a plan in place.
💡 Community Resources
List of freelancing communities Communities - find your fellow freelancers
9. More resources and support
This guide is only a rapid top-level resource. You can find much more detail on freelancing.support - along with in-depth guides, resources and tools on freelancing.
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