For buyers Due Diligence helps to reduce the risk involved in purchasing products or services from another company or contractor. It also helps to ensure that the morals of the company fit in with your own, for example having and following a modern slavery policy.
More and more companies are carrying out die diligence checks on their contractors before they sign a contract or allow them to start work……
But why is this becoming more and more relevant?
Well for a start in the security industry, it is standard practice for insurance companies to insist that all the company’s staff are screened and vetting to BS7858 – Screening of individuals working in a secure environment – Code of practice.
So here in lies the problem – your contractor has provided you with their insurance document but has not read it themselves, subsequently they have not carried out the correct vetting of their staff (which makes me wonder why you wouldn’t vet your applicants in the first place) so although they have an insurance policy it is null and void.
Something else we see regularly in the industry is that really good price! Ok so how do they get it so cheap? My first question would be are your staff employed of “self-employed?” as this allows for a company to remove the burden of holiday pay, pensions and other liabilities.
If their team are all self employed and wearing their uniform, are they employed or self-employed?
There are so many factors to this which could mean your paying for a service you are not receiving so sometimes a little extra effort to ask some of the right questions can go a long way!
Our team members are all vetting above BS7858 which includes financial checking and a DBS amongst other things. All our clients receive our insurance documents and accreditation certificates during the selection process and replacements are available at any time upon request.
