IPSE Magazine

[tractor]

......

You can elect not to receive it, if you bother to look. Or, just as a mad idea, you could go to their site. Or do you expect Tesco to post their online shopping service on the LIDL website? It's available as a PDF anyway, but you can't leave PDFs lying around the office...


Perhaps if you read it you would find out why

I'll have you know that CUK is Fortnum and Mason as ISPE is to Tesco lol.

[RasputinDude]

It has never said that.

It has never said what?

In fact it has been at pains to point out that its core membership of IT and engineering contractors (remember them?) will remain at the heart of their strategy. That strategy hasn't changed in the slightest, it's just that there is a large number of other "self employed" workers out there - over 4 million of them - who don't know they need the kind of support and representation that IPSE is (and always has) offered if they aren't going to be dropped on by HMRC and HMG. And you won't get better professional, legal and business support at anywhere near the price, even if you disagree with the politics.

Seriously all this crap about abandoning their core constituency is just that: crap.

It may well be crap, Mal. But if it is then their communication needs to be clearer. And yes, I do check the site and forum frequently and I am not sure what it stands for any more. You can say it's crap and respond aggressively if you want but that doesn't change my perception of what the PCG has become.

[TheFaQQer]

And you won't get better professional, legal and business support at anywhere near the price, even if you disagree with the politics.

However, if you fundamentally disagree with the politics, then there is something to be said for trying to deny that course of action by not funding it.

If the BNP started offering cheap insurance (or whatever word you put on it) for business interruption, then I wouldn't be a member just because it was economically better for my business to go that route and ignore the politics.

[malvolio]

It has never said what?

Dunno. A senior moment, clearly!

It may well be crap, Mal. But if it is then their communication needs to be clearer. And yes, I do check the site and forum frequently and I am not sure what it stands for any more. You can say it's crap and respond aggressively if you want but that doesn't change my perception of what the PCG has become.

Hasn't changed mine either. But I've found the communication to be very clear and bioth Chairman and CEO have expanded on it in the latest magazine.

By all means disagree with them of course - you wouldn't be alone - but please base your disagreement on the right basis. Their core purpose and their core membership has not changed in the slightest.

[RasputinDude]

Dunno. A senior moment, clearly!

Oh well, we all have them

Their core purpose and their core membership has not changed in the slightest.

That simply isn't true though, is it? They are expanding into other areas where there are gaps in the market and so their core purpose of representing Ltd Co contractors is being diluted. Also, while their core membership probably changed a great deal since the re-brand, they are clearly marketing themselves out to other occupations and forms of trading. While I don't deny that sole traders and the self employed desperately need some representation, there is a danger of their mission for Ltd Co contractors being lost or sidelined. This is why I am concerned.

[TheFaQQer]

While I don't deny that sole traders and the self employed desperately need some representation, there is a danger of their mission for Ltd Co contractors being lost or sidelined. This is why I am concerned.

Remember - if IPSE get their way, you wouldn't be a limited company contractor. You'd be operating via a new corporate entity, to make it simpler for you.

[DiscoStu]

In effect IPSE seems to have become a vehicle for a small group of people to push their own agenda, funded by the people who want their insurance/protection products.

[malvolio]

Oh well, we all have them


That simply isn't true though, is it? They are expanding into other areas where there are gaps in the market and so their core purpose of representing Ltd Co contractors is being diluted. Also, while their core membership probably changed a great deal since the re-brand, they are clearly marketing themselves out to other occupations and forms of trading. While I don't deny that sole traders and the self employed desperately need some representation, there is a danger of their mission for Ltd Co contractors being lost or sidelined. This is why I am concerned.

Why? They are offering the same protection to other "self employed" workers as Limited Company contractors, many of whom are working as Agency workers or - like our Social Services colleagues on here - working as contractors when they really should be employees. That market includes Interim Managers, Medical locums and a host of media people, who function no differently to us, but who don't understand the need for an IPSE-like protection: most if not all Interims are IR35 fodder but until recently have refused to face the fact. Ditto a lot of locums.

That's why I fail to understand your viewpoint; the idea is to bring more people into the existing fold, not set up a whole new one. The representational, legal and taxation challenges faced by all non-employed workers are exactly the same.

[tractor]

...

Why? They are offering the same protection to other "self employed" workers as Limited Company contractors, many of whom are working as Agency workers or - like our Social Services colleagues on here - working as contractors when they really should be employees. That market includes Interim Managers, Medical locums and a host of media people, who function no differently to us, but who don't understand the need for an IPSE-like protection: most if not all Interims are IR35 fodder but until recently have refused to face the fact. Ditto a lot of locums.

That's why I fail to understand your viewpoint; the idea is to bring more people into the existing fold, not set up a whole new one. The representational, legal and taxation challenges faced by all non-employed workers are exactly the same.

But most of us are employed. Blurring the lines between the wider self employed and traditional PCG members who are mostly Limited is part of the problem. I have seen many comments that do not wish this to happen.

[RasputinDude]

But most of us are employed. Blurring the lines between the wider self employed and traditional PCG members who are mostly Limited is part of the problem.

^^^
This is my concern.

I also think that we should end this thread in public. I have no ill-will toward the PCG IPSE and wouldn't want to damage its reputation. As I said upthread, I am considering whether to renew or not based on their change of stance - I haven't made a decision yet.