New research suggests self-employed people in the UK are charging up to 50 per cent more for a day’s work than they were this time last year.

A study conducted last month and published today by Crunch Accounting showed that a third of freelancers questioned had increased their day rate in the last 12 months. Of those, a third said their rate had increased by up to 50 per cent.

Crunch said its figures demonstrated that the economic recovery is permeating through to self-employed people.

Darren Fell, managing director of Crunch Accounting, added: “Things are clearly picking up for UK businesses and we’re delighted that those positive benefits are reaching the army of self-employed and contract workers across the UK.”

In other findings from the research, four in 10 respondents said their business had grown by 50 per cent in 12 months while 7.5 per cent claimed turnover had doubled.

The government says there are 4.55 million freelancers in the UK. The figure increased by 183,000 in the three months to March 2014 alone.