The growing disparity between business and personal tax rates, accountants exploiting this avenue (such that Kiwi secretaries on a vacation in London were "starting businesses") and agents creating an employment firewall, resulted in a massive growth in what was to become known as ‘Personal Service Companies’.

Moving on a decade or two, with a change of Government, the new Chancellor, constrained by the promise not to raise income tax, cast around for a stealthier way to fill his pot to pay for the spending promises.

The Civil Servants dusted off an old piece of possible legislation which had languished for a number of years on the top shelf, re-packaged it and re-targeted it – and IR35 became one of those measures which the Chancellor needed.

This allowed the Chancellor to pierce the corporate veil and used the self-employment tests to determine if it was a ‘genuine business’ or a cover for a ‘disguised employee’. If the latter, the personal tax rates would apply.

The problem was that the inability to trade as self-employed for nearly 20 years meant that the case law that defines the borderline between employment and business had withered on the vine as far as ‘contracting’ was concerned. There was no case law that recognised selling knowledge as a valid business just as apparently driving a white van was.

At the time, in a speech in Westminster Hall on ‘Contractor Wednesday’, I described it as.: "Using a ruler to weigh something"

The case law is so uncertain and more importantly the cost of uncertainty so large (perceived as six years back tax plus up to 100 per cent penalties) that people are being driven out of business.

So the contracting business is contracting.

Time to go freelancing.

Freelancing is not defined by some set of rules. It is a state of mind.

The freedom to choose not to go the management route, to boost your salary, but to stay technical.

The freedom to stay the fsck out of employee office politics

The freedom to say "Can do" at an interesting problem and "Stuff you" if you do not like the way they treat you.

The freedom to invest in any training you like. Or none.

The freedom to look after your career, recognising that no one else will.

While contracting is synonymous with IT and engineering; the terms freelancing is more closely associated with journalists, yet both professions sell their knowledge, their creativity, into a market place which requires their particular skills at a particular time. The latter, freelancing, is associated with an independent spirit, a small business in a particular skill set, a freedom to sell your services in a way you choose.

Contracting, on the other hand, has become associated with negative connotations, thanks to the continuous bad-mouthing by some politicians and others. ‘Rolex-wearing, Porsche driving, Tax cheating, MGB's’ and ‘bum on seat sheep" are a few – all this is a long way from the idea of running a cutting-edge entrepreneurial business.

In a letter to the Chancellor in 2000 I described freelancers:

"They represent an unsung part of the British economy. Tracing their roots back to the famous engineers of the past they represent all that is good about this country. Highly educated and with exposure to worldwide "best practice" they are tenacious, determined, with a "can do" attitude that gets the job done. Freed from the shackles of employment they want nothing more for their businesses, but the freedom to fail and the chance to succeed."

Make no mistake freelancing is under threat. The Government wants to tax you off the park. The unions want to "give you a f******** migraine" (as well as Tony). Some clients and some agents abuse you. They want to control you like employees, but treat you like the hired hand. As far as legislation is concerned, it’s a heads you lose; tails you don’t win – whenever there is a choice of which way to fall, the contracting community seems to come up ‘down’.

So is a rebranding exercise of a commercial sector a move in the right direction to gain the status that ‘contractors’ deserve; or is it an airy-fairy AbFab exercise? I would tend to think that, given the millions of pounds, major plcs are prepared to spend on their images and branding there must be something in it.

And even if there isn’t, consider these dictionary definitions and decide which one best suits you:

freelancer

• A person who sells services to employers without a long-term commitment to any of them;
  
• working for yourself;
  
• [a writer or artist] who sells services to different employers without a long-term contract with any of them [syn: {independent}, {self-employed person}]

contractor

• One that agrees to furnish materials or perform services at a specified price, especially for construction work
  
• someone (a person or firm) who contracts to build things;
  
• one who covenants to do anything for another; specifically, one who contracts to perform work on a rather large scale, at a certain price or rate, as in building houses or making a railroad .
  
• One who contracts; one of the parties to a bargain.

So is it all in a name or an image – or is it doom and gloom for the freelancing community however they are branded?

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Andy White