Exclusivity email (Newbie)

[Clarkee21]

Morning All

I'm just beginning my journey into the contracting world and have started speaking to agencies about some potential interviews.

This morning I've received an email from one agency who are keen to put me forward for one.

Before they can do this though they want me to copy and paste the following confirmation email and send it back.....

Dear <AGENT> ,

I can confirm that I would like <THIS_AGENCY> to represent me solely in relation to vacancies at:

• <THE_CLIENT>

I can confirm that I have not sent my CV to, or been in contact with any of these companies. I can also confirm that I have not given any other agency permission to represent me at any of these companies.


Regards,

Seems a bit harsh and I find it hard to believe this would stand-up legally but looking at some old threads on the forum I've come across this one which seems to have some good suggestions.

http://forums.contractoruk.com/busin...ml#post1492470

Is the boilerplate response still the way to go with this kind of situation?

MyLTD agrees to allow agency to exclusively represent me to client for role for a period of 10 days from today on the understanding that agency are on the preferred supplier list of client and that agency will confirm to MyLTD in writing that the CV has been sent to to the client within 24 hours of the dispatch of this approval.

I'm also still to set-up my limited company on the basis that I don't have a gig yet. How does this stand if I put myself forward as an individual?

Thanks
James

[northernladuk]

The contracts are between the agent and your LTD, not you as an individual. Putting yourself forward as an individual could end up with you being contracted as an individual which a) won't happen as agents won't take on sole traders because of the potential tax liabilities to the agent or b) be named as an individual in the contract which is very bad for IR35.

Agent's know this game so there is no little sly trick you can pull. They hold the gig and if you mess them about they will just drop you.

Kudos for coming on here with a question and finding the correct answer though.

[Clarkee21]

Thanks for your quick reply northernladuk.

In that case should I be looking to set up a company now or am I safe at this stage to proceed with replying to this email confirmation?

The advice I've been given to date has been to set it up after a contract is likely but I'm starting to think this situation may demand it.

I'm assuming the purpose of the mail is to confirm I'm happy to have my details sent to the client but it sounds very open-ended. I want to check my facts before I step in any thing nasty here.

Thanks again
James

[TheFaQQer]

Set a time limit, otherwise you have to always use them.

Include something which says that this is subject to them being on the PSL.

Include something which says that they will submit your contract within a given time period (days).

Otherwise, you're giving them everything and getting very little in return.

[northernladuk]

For the cost I'd personally have the company set up. It's pretty common in contracting to interview Wednesday and start Monday. If that is the case you have a hell of a lot to get your head around in two days. Accountants, bank accounts, company formation, contract check, VAT registration, PI/PL, FRS yadda yadda. Not all of it needs to be done immediately but you will need a company for the contract to be with.

An accountant can set one up in a couple of hours but you've got to find that accountant first I would guess so should be ringing around people and interviewing them to see who you like the sound of and so on. Will be quite a headache to do all this and get your contract checked for IR35 in a few days.

You could of course go umbrella for the first few months just to remove the hassle if you are unsure. It's not quite as efficient but for a few months it will be worth the headache. Not everyone agrees but I did it and I know a lot of experienced guys that did. 3 months in a long contracting career won't kill you.

Be sure to read the two references sticky before you engage with the agents as well. They are devious little monkey's at times.

[WTFH]

Set a time limit, otherwise you have to always use them.

Include something which says that this is subject to them being on the PSL.

Include something which says that they will submit your contract within a given time period (days).

Otherwise, you're giving them everything and getting very little in return.

...and include the specific role they are talking about.

[Clarkee21]

For the cost I'd personally have the company set up. It's pretty common in contracting to interview Wednesday and start Monday. If that is the case you have a hell of a lot to get your head around in two days. Accountants, bank accounts, company formation, contract check, VAT registration, PI/PL, FRS yadda yadda. Not all of it needs to be done immediately but you will need a company for the contract to be with.

An accountant can set one up in a couple of hours but you've got to find that accountant first I would guess so should be ringing around people and interviewing them to see who you like the sound of and so on. Will be quite a headache to do all this and get your contract checked for IR35 in a few days.

You could of course go umbrella for the first few months just to remove the hassle if you are unsure. It's not quite as efficient but for a few months it will be worth the headache. Not everyone agrees but I did it and I know a lot of experienced guys that did. 3 months in a long contracting career won't kill you.

Be sure to read the two references sticky before you engage with the agents as well. They are devious little monkey's at times.

Thanks again. I'll start looking into it today then.

My circumstance just now is that I've just been made redundant from my FT job and currently working my notice period to the 18th of December so with that being a week from Christmas I'm hoping to line something up to start at the beginning of January.

That may give me some much needed breathing space to set all this up in that case. I've a few recommendations on accountants so I'll start getting in touch.

Thanks
James

[Clarkee21]

...and include the specific role they are talking about.

Thanks both for your input

I think I've got all of that covered through the example in my original post but the one thing I think I will add is that the individual named is to be changed for a limited company shortly.

I'm just concious of the time I have before interviews start.

Thanks again
James

[northernladuk]

Clients don't often wait so long for a start so you aren't going to get offered many gigs with that timescale. That said its Xmas and a Jan start would make more sense so might work at this time of year.

[Clarkee21]

Clients don't often wait so long for a start so you aren't going to get offered many gigs with that timescale. That said its Xmas and a Jan start would make more sense so might work at this time of year.

That's what I'm hoping for but if I have to work then so be it. If anything it'll make up for the lack of pay coming February anyway.

Credit to this site though it's been a huge help in making this decision to move into contracting so I big thank you from me!

Hopefully the redundancy is the opportunity I've needed to give this a go. I can't believe I've been a member of this site since 2007, it's taken me long enough!

Thanks
James