Outsourcing and Sourcing Agreements

Outsourcing can offer tremendous operational benefits, but it requires clear, detailed agreements to manage expectations and responsibilities. We help businesses create outsourcing contracts that define the scope of services, performance standards, pricing, and timelines. Our team ensures that your agreements outline precise terms regarding quality control, confidentiality, intellectual property rights, and dispute resolution to protect your business interests and reduce potential risks.

Sourcing agreements are essential for securing goods and services from suppliers, manufacturers, or third-party vendors. We assist in structuring sourcing agreements that ensure that your procurement process is efficient, transparent, and legally compliant. Our focus is on protecting your company’s interests by clearly outlining pricing, delivery terms, quality assurance, warranties, and liability, as well as mechanisms for dispute resolution.

Service level agreements are a critical component of outsourcing and sourcing deals, particularly when measuring performance standards. We draft and negotiate SLAs that set clear expectations for service quality, delivery timelines, and penalties for non-performance. Our team ensures that SLAs are structured in a way that incentivises high performance while protecting your business from operational disruptions.

In certain industries, long-term outsourcing or sourcing relationships are governed by overarching framework agreements that provide a broad structure for multiple transactions. We help businesses create framework agreements that lay the foundation for future procurement or outsourcing arrangements, ensuring that terms are consistent, flexible, and aligned with your business strategy.

Outsourcing and sourcing often involve the exchange of sensitive business information and data. We assist in drafting confidentiality agreements and data protection clauses to safeguard your intellectual property, trade secrets, and client data. Our team ensures that your agreements comply with UK data protection regulations, including the Data Protection Act and GDPR, and that your data is protected throughout the outsourcing or sourcing relationship.

In some outsourcing arrangements, a third-party subcontractor may be involved in the provision of services. We help draft subcontractor agreements that ensure your primary outsourcing partner’s obligations are extended to any subcontractors, with clear terms regarding liability, confidentiality, and service standards.

Even with well-structured outsourcing or sourcing agreements, relationships can change. We work with you to define clear exit strategies in your contracts, including termination clauses, dispute resolution mechanisms, and the transfer of assets or data. Our aim is to provide you with the flexibility to exit relationships smoothly while minimising risks and ensuring business continuity.

For companies sourcing goods or services from vendors and suppliers, we help draft vendor contracts that protect your business against delays, defects, or non-compliance. We work with you to ensure that your supplier agreements are robust, covering key aspects such as payment terms, delivery schedules, quality standards, and remedies for breaches.