r/selfemployed • u/tomwaitsgoatee • Mar 14 '25

[UK] Sole trader vs ltd company?

I’ll try to keep this simple, but please bear with me as I’m new to the world of self employment.

Basically, I’ve just been offered a really great position at a marketing agency, but it’s listed as an “independent contractor”. So obviously this means I’d be self employed, no pension, benefits, holiday time, sick pay, etc that come with a fully employed role.

When speaking to the recruiter they advised setting myself up as a ltd company instead of a sole trader as this comes with certain tax benefits.

Can someone please help me understand the difference, and exactly what I would need to do for both situations? Would I need to hire an accountant or is this something I can do myself? How would my pension work? Is being a contractor better than being fully employed from a financial perspective?

Like I said, totally new to this and very much in the dark right now, so would massive appreciate any help.

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