When IR35 was first announced in 1999, contractors and freelancers had no idea about the massive impact it was to have on
their livelihoods. Until, that is, ContractorCalculator founder and CEO Dave Chaplin – who is also a mathematician and
at that time was an IT contractor – wrote and published online the first ever interactive IR35 tax calculator.
As a result of Dave’s pioneering work, when the shocking truth emerged about
the financial impact of IR35 on contractor earnings, the
contracting and freelancing sector was never to be the same again.
And while still working as an IT contractor for blue chip clients in London’s financial district, Dave built this
contractors’ and freelancers’ portal, including high quality contracting news and
in-depth contracting guides, around a range of online financial calculators that
became ContractorCalculator.
“After building the first online calculator, I realised that contractors, like me, needed an independent resource to
help them navigate increasingly complex contractor tax laws,” explains Dave. “So I set out to provide expert yet
accessible guides and commentary for all contractors and freelancers, both newcomers and veterans.”
Dave’s passion for ensuring that today’s contractors and freelancers are equipped to flourish prompted him to
write the contracting sector’s definitive guide – The Contractors’ Handbook: the expert guide for UK contractors
and freelancers.
As ContractorCalculator has become the place for contractors and freelancers to visit (our last ABC audit
confirmed over 150,000 monthly unique visitors), for its online calculators, incisive news and opinion
and in-depth guides, so its value as an advertising property has increased.
“ContractorCalculator targets and brings together in one place a disparate group of highly skilled, high-earning and
flexible knowledge workers,” continues Dave. “In many cases they only have the ‘contractor’,
‘freelancer’, ‘interim’ or ‘consultant’ badge in common, yet they still need access to a similar range of products,
services and professional support.”
By 2004 Dave was working full time on the website and has since created a team comprising business and financial
journalists, marketers and web designers, all experienced and highly qualified contractors and freelancers. These ongoing
developments mean the site is produced by contractors for contractors, earning
ContractorCalculator ‘Your Expert Guide to Contracting’ designation.
ContractorCalculator, the UK authority on contracting, has regular independent verifications by ABC of over 130,000
unique visitors per month. And as the only contractor website with an ongoing commitment to these industry
standard audits you can invest in our marketing solutions with confidence and trust.
