As a sole adviser, find out how a locum or outside support can help your business.
You may want to consider how your business will continue to run when you are absent or in an emergency. One option is to appoint a locum or outside support.
Locums
A locum is an authorised person or authorised company that can step in when needed, to ensure the smooth running of your business.
There is no regulatory requirement to have a locum but if you do, you must make sure they have the right permissions to work for your business.
You can use a locum to:
- do business for you in your absence, eg in an emergency while you are on holiday, to ensure your customers are supported
- assess that you are complying with training and competence
- set up a confidentiality agreement to review each other's files and receive feedback
- discuss issues about your business, products or the wider industry
When setting up a locum agreement you should have a contract in place to set out the terms and scope of your arrangement.
Other outside support
This can be an accountant or compliance consultant you employ to help your business. Before contracting outside support you must consider these factors:
- What qualifications do they need?
- What is the range and extent of their service?
- What due diligence will be needed, especially if they have access to customer data?
- How much will you be relying on references or reputation and keeping this reliance to a minimum?
Remember that you cannot outsource your regulatory requirements and that it is your responsibility to meet them.
