Adviser Agreement Template (United Kingdom)
Updated on 6 August 2026
A UK adviser agreement records a commercial advisory relationship without appointing the adviser as an employee, director, officer, partner, or authorised signatory. It is especially useful where a founder, company, charity, portfolio business, or project sponsor wants specialist input but does not want the adviser to manage the organisation or bind it to deals.
This local version also covers a advisory board agreement. The advisory-board option adds meeting, recommendation, minutes, and no-director-authority wording because an advisory board is not the same as the legal board that manages the organisation under company law.
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Adviser Agreement
This Agreement is made on between of and of .
1. Capacity and Appointment
The organisation appoints the Adviser as an independent outside adviser under UK law.
2. Scope
The Adviser will provide advice on: . Expected deliverables are: . Meeting cadence is: .
3. Compensation and Expenses
Compensation is: . Expenses are reimbursed only under this approval rule: .
4. No Authority
The Adviser may not sign, approve expenditure, hire, dismiss, supervise, manage, negotiate, or bind the organisation unless separate written authority is given for a specific act.
5. Confidentiality, IP, and Conflicts
The Adviser must protect confidential information and use it only for this relationship. New work product prepared specifically for the organisation is assigned to the organisation except for the Adviser’s pre-existing tools and general know-how. Known conflicts are: .
6. Termination and General
Either party may terminate on days written notice. Confidentiality, IP, accrued payment, return of property, and conflict obligations survive termination. Governing law: .
Organisation
Date:
Adviser
Date:
Why United Kingdom needs its own adviser wording
The US master cannot simply be copied into United Kingdom. Local company law, tax treatment, worker-status analysis, confidentiality practice, and equity or option paperwork are different. This document therefore treats the adviser as an independent commercial adviser and makes board authority explicit: the adviser may recommend, introduce, review, and challenge, but cannot approve corporate action or sign for the company unless a separate authority is given.
Use the scope field to write the actual advisory work: product strategy, market introductions, fundraising preparation, technical review, governance mentoring, or another defined role. If deliverables are expected, name them. If the adviser is only attending quarterly advisory-board meetings, say that too.
Equity, fees, and expenses
Adviser compensation in United Kingdom may be cash, a success fee, expenses, equity, options, warrants, or another incentive. The agreement can record the commercial intention, but equity or option rights should be issued only under the relevant company approval, tax, employment, and securities or financial-promotion process. A short adviser agreement should not pretend to be a complete share or option grant.
The template separates cash fees, approved expenses, and an optional equity-summary field. It also preserves the adviser’s pre-existing tools and know-how while assigning work product created specifically for the company where that is intended.
Advisory board is not the legal board
The main local drafting risk is accidental authority. If a document calls someone a board member but does not say the advisory board is non-binding, a recipient could misunderstand the role. This template states that recommendations become company action only if approved by the proper legal decision-maker.
The compliance source for this page is GOV.UK - director general duties. Use it as the starting point for checking the duties and powers of legal directors before creating an advisory board.
Clause-by-clause guide
- Capacity selector
- Switches between individual adviser and advisory-board member so the governance wording changes with the role.
- Scope and deliverables
- Defines the topics, outputs, meeting cadence, and excluded work.
- No authority
- Prevents the adviser from signing, hiring, approving expenditure, or binding the organisation without separate written authority.
- Compensation
- Separates fees, expenses, and any equity intention so compensation is not left to a blank table.
- Confidentiality and conflicts
- Protects non-public information and requires disclosure of competing roles or portfolio conflicts.
- IP and pre-existing materials
- Transfers new work product where intended while preserving the adviser’s existing tools, methods and general know-how.
United Kingdom checklist
Keep advisory-board status non-binding
adviser agreement wording should not create a legal director or officer appointment unless the organisation deliberately takes the required corporate steps.
GOV.UK - director general dutiesCheck worker status and tax treatment
The contract label is not enough if the facts look like employment or another regulated role.
Document equity separately
Use local share, option, tax, approval, and financial-promotion paperwork for equity or option awards.
Manage conflicts before sensitive materials are shared
Ask the adviser to disclose roles with competitors, portfolio companies, investors, suppliers, or customers.
Do not overstate professional review
This template does not claim attorney review, regulatory approval, or guaranteed compliance.
How to use this template
- Choose the capacity. Select individual adviser or advisory-board member so the UK no-authority wording matches the role.
- Define the scope. List topics, deliverables, meeting cadence, and excluded work.
- Set compensation. Complete fees, expenses, and any equity intention, then document equity separately if applicable.
- Add conflicts. Disclose competing roles, investments, clients, and sensitive information restrictions.
- Sign before sharing confidential material. Both sides should sign before board packs, strategy papers, data, or customer information are shared.
Frequently asked questions
Is a advisory board agreement the same as the legal board?
No. In United Kingdom, an advisory board should be described as non-binding unless the organisation deliberately appoints legal directors or gives formal authority through its constitutional documents and company-law process.
Can the adviser be paid in equity?
Possibly, but equity, options, warrants, or similar rights should be approved and documented separately under local company, tax, employment, and securities rules.
Does this make the adviser an employee?
Not by itself. Worker status depends on the facts, including control, integration, mutual obligations, payment, and local employment tests.
Who owns the adviser’s work product?
This template assigns new work product created for the organisation while preserving pre-existing tools and know-how unless the parties expressly agree otherwise.
Can the adviser work with competitors?
Usually yes if conflicts are disclosed and confidential information is protected, but direct conflicts should be managed before sensitive material is shared.
Do we still need an NDA?
The template includes confidentiality terms, but a separate NDA may be useful if information is shared before the commercial terms are final.
Related templates
Disclaimer
This UK adviser agreement template and guide are provided for general information only and are not legal, tax, employment, regulatory, title, notarial, court-filing, or professional advice. Local law and required forms can change; confirm the current rule and get advice before relying on the document.
