Fri 04 / 09 / 15
Freelance or employer
Conversation Session, Brighton Summit, Friday 16 October
Giving their views on whether to use freelancers or hire employees you’ll hear from Jon Malyon, MD of Tilt, Vicki Hughes MD and founder of Fugu PR and Adam Jannece founder of JCJ Construction.
We’ll explore their experiences of becoming employers, running businesses and how they felt and adjusted to these changes. If you’re planning to set up a company or expand, considering whether to use freelances or hire employees and wondering how these changes might affect you, this session should provide helpful insights.
Many successful companies started out as one or two people with a good idea. So what happens when the work starts piling up, you can’t do it by yourself and you think you might have to hire people? Do you ask other freelances for help or do you start employing people and turn into a company?
The panel have all been through this: they are digital, construction, business services and marketing people whose successful enterprises have led them to form and grow companies.
Jon Malyon will be talking about:
- Making the jump from employee to freelancer
- Becoming a leader of people (the way you measure your own performance shifts from direct input to achieving results vicariously through your team)
- Ensuring you have systems in place to succeed (e.g. software, IT infrastructure). What may seam like overkill now, might be exactly what you need in a year . . . plan for growth.
- Working with the ‘millennials / generation edge’ workforce - how to motivate this workforce.
Jon has been working within the digital industry for over 10 years. As Tilt’s Managing Director, Jon’s primary responsibility is to ensure that account teams are working hard to deliver the best possible results for their clients. He enjoys being hands-on and meeting all clients face-to-face whenever possible.
Jon started out his digital career working as a web developer for a Brighton based digital agency where he worked for 3 years before turning his hand as a professional freelancer, specialising in web development. It was during this period as a freelancer that Jon met Dan Evans and Chris Cooke (also freelancers) and formed an alliance that would later form the building blocks of their digital agency We Are Tilt.
Formed in 2010, Jon originally worked at the main web developer under the Tilt banner. As the company grew and new talented resource brought on board, his role has changed through a spectrum of responsibilities, from team leader, to technical director right through to his current position as Managing Director of a 20 strong company.
Vicki Hughes will talk about her journey from freelancer/consultant to employer as Fugu PR – why she made that transition and what she’s learnt along the way. She’ll cover the ever changing role of a small business employer, the challenges and the highs in running a team of highly creative and ambitious individuals.
Vicki is the MD and founder of Fugu PR. Working in consultancy since the early nineties, she has been at the forefront of developments in digital media. Her unique approach has been developed after nearly 20 years in delivering national and global campaigns. She regularly lectures and trains businesses and students on communication theory and campaigns.
Adam Jannece will talk about going from a one man band self-employed sub-contractor to a 11 man employer main contractor.
He will also discuss the highs and lows of employees including; helping you grow, a team to bounce ideas off each other, the day to day interaction, petty squabbles, wage demands and job title disputes.
Adam founded JCJ Construction in 2010, having gained nine years’ experience as a project manager for one of Brighton's largest contractors. He also has an apprenticeship in carpentry and joinery. Since 2010 JCJ Construction has grown into a reputable main contractor, employing a carefully selected team of 11 including two operational employees and nine highly skilled tradesmen.
The session will be facilitated by Brian Warren, Quick HR. A former journalist, Brian changed career into human resources and employment law more than 10 years ago. He set up the Quick HR agency in 2012 and works with all kinds of companies and individuals around Sussex, helping with recruitment, training, changes (planned or otherwise), contracts and everything else in the wonderful world of work. Practical, friendly and resourceful, he tends to say “nothing is impossible” regularly.
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