Osborne alerted to dwindling one-man bands

The national body for contractors and contracting has issued a timely reminder that self-employment in the UK has now fallen for the seventh month in a row.

The Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed issued the reminder last week, a little over a month ahead of George Osborne’s 2015 Autumn Statement.

The statement, which will likely contain measures that affect contractors and other one-man bands, should be used to reconsider a number of proposals that threaten them, IPSE said.

Changes to travel and subsistence tax relief, for example, may drive many contractors entirely “out of business,” warns the association, which estimates up to 45,000 closures as a result.

“We are concerned that the number of self-employed people in the UK has fallen for the seventh consecutive month compared to last year,” said IPSE’s chief executive Chris Bryce.

“The UK's 4.5m who work for themselves are a huge contributor to our economic growth, so it is essential for the government to get behind this key part of our flexible labour market.”