Trezeo, an Irish FinTech start-up, explains the changing world of work
There is an ongoing structural shift towards self-employment and gig-based work. In fact, there are now five million self-employed in the UK, up 25% in the last ten years. Unfortunately, these workers lack the basic financial protections and benefits that most employees take for granted, including a predictable salary, holiday & sick pay and easy access to pensions. They also struggle to access affordable credit, mortgages and even rent a property because the entire system that has built up over the last 100 years is based on stable earnings from an employer which self-employed workers simply don’t have. In this article, we ask Garrett Cassidy at Trezeo, an Irish owned company, to explain how they are helping to build a new financial safety net for self-employed and gig workers.
We know that more and more people are moving towards flexible, self-employed employment contracts. What do you think are the major drivers of this trend?
Our desire for flexibility and convenience are the key drivers of this shift from two perspectives. Firstly, our expectations around flexibility and convenience (the “on-demand economy”) means there are greater fluctuations in demand, driven by the emergence of platforms that use technology to create solutions for peak demand and to remove the barriers between quality of service and scale. This offers increased customer satisfaction at lower prices and drives the need for large flexible workforces. Importantly it doesn’t end there, many people choose to become self-employed because they like the flexibility and autonomy that comes from working for yourself. In fact, think tank Demos’ study of UK self-employed workers found that 80% were happy with their self-employed status.
There are many examples where self-employment and gig work are also enabling people who struggle to engage in traditional employment to earn a living in a way that works for them. It allows many to manage work around their caring obligations, it provides a route to valuable work for people with mental health challenges or simply a way to earn more money for many people who are struggling.
How do Trezeo support the self-employed and independent workers?
Our vision is to create a world where workers have access to inclusive financial services irrespective of how they work, creating a better future and contributing to a stronger society.
Trezeo membership provides a unique range of financial services and protection for the self-employed, giving them financial peace of mind while increasing their financial stability and supporting their future aspirations. We work with debt providers, insurers and other partners to deliver these protections and benefits, such as stabilising income, insuring income against accident and sickness, building credit via interest-free top-ups, and much more.
We also work with companies and platforms that engage self-employed workers to help them support their workers by offering access to a 21st century safety net.
I am a self-employed contractor. What advice would you give me today to better manage my financial situation?
Most self-employed workers value their independence but this comes with responsibility. My key advice is to recognise that you don’t have a traditional employer “looking after you”, so you are in charge and need to take responsibility for your financial health. This has been really challenging in the past as the industry simply didn’t know how to deal with you, but the development of solutions like Trezeo are making it possible for the self-employed to access essential protections and other financial products in a simple and affordable way that will enable them to build a strong financial future.
What impact is the current Coronavirus epidemic having on the self-employed market and how is Trezeo responding?
In many cases it has been catastrophic, a large portion of self-employed have seen their earnings disappear overnight, think of mini cab/Uber drivers, construction workers and cleaners who have no work and have no-one to furlough them. Unfortunately, the government have been slow to respond, they belatedly established the Self-employed Income Support Scheme, and while this was welcome, many are excluded by the restrictive conditions and payments are only starting in late May, with no word on whether it will be extended beyond June. The only other option available is a minimal Universal Credit payment.
On the other hand, we have many self-employed and gig workers who deliver essential services like truck drivers and delivery workers. While these workers are keeping many essential services running, they have no financial protection and many are scared of getting sick.
The majority of our current members are delivery workers and we are focused on supporting them through the crisis. We extended free sickness protection to all our existing members for the most critical period of the crisis so they could have more confidence going to work and we are working with companies on how they can better protect their workers as they emerge from the crisis.
Trezeo has been selected to participate in a social programme called BOOST — congratulations! Can you tell us a little more about what BOOST is and its objectives?
BOOST is scale up programme run by the Inclusive Economy Partnership, an initiative of the Cabinet Office, that brings together business, civil society and government to tackle the UK’s most pressing social and economic problems through cross-sector partnerships. While BOOST was conceived before COVID-19, its objectives have never been as important with the challenge of building a more inclusive economy in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The programme will support Trezeo in positively impacting the lives of even more people across the UK.
Trezeo was founded in 2016 and has enjoyed positive business growth since then. What stage are you at in your growth plans and what’s on the horizon for Trezeo?
We are still at an early stage of our growth, building a regulated business takes time and we have concentrated on ensuring our solution addresses the real needs of our current and future members. We have had great feedback from our early members and have now signed partnerships with a number of platforms to help us scale, in particular Labour xchange, a gig platform who want to improve the lives of care workers and ensure they have a safety net by paying for Trezeo benefits for all their care workers.
As the lockdown starts lifting and business begin to reopen, we are focused on providing practical solutions to businesses to ensure their self-employed workers have access to a financial safety net that is fit for the 21st century as we see self-employment and flexible work playing a key role in helping both business and workers get back on their feet.
How do you think about the future in a post COVID-19 world?
While there are many reasons to feel bleak, we have a unique opportunity to learn from the crisis and create a better future for the millions of self-employed workers that our economy and way of life rely on. Through initiatives like BOOST, our relationship with the RSA and other stakeholders, we will continue to lead the charge to build a new financial safety net for the 21st century by delivering practical financial solutions to protect and support self-employed workers and the businesses that rely on them.
If your business, or one you know, wants to ensure that self-employed workers have a safety net, then pleased get in touch with Garrett at Trezeo or email LIBS on londonirishbusinesssociety@gmail.com and we will be happy to introduce you.
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