Consultancy agreement for a business coach

A coach engaged by a company to coach its people serves two parties with different interests: the company that pays and wants results, and the individual who is coached and wants confidentiality. The agreement has to set the programme, draw the confidentiality line between what the coachee says and what the sponsor is told, define what coaching is and is not, and reflect a coaching practice that is a business of its own. I draft that agreement, for the company or for the coach, for a fixed fee of £595, delivered in five working days. Status turns on the facts, is checked with HMRC's Check Employment Status for Tax tool for each engagement, and cannot be guaranteed by any agreement.

Who this is for

Businesses in England and Wales engaging an executive, leadership or business coach for their directors, managers or teams, and coaches who work with corporate clients and want an agreement that protects the coaching relationship.

What matters in a corporate coaching agreement

The coaching services and the programme

The agreement should define the programme: who is coached, the number and length of sessions, their format and location, the period, any assessments or workshops included, the goals agreed between the company, the coachee and the coach at the outset, and what the company must provide (time, a sponsor, information); the coach performs with reasonable care and skill under section 13 of the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 and decides how the coaching is done.

Confidentiality between coach, coachee and sponsor

The agreement should say that what the coachee discusses in sessions is confidential to the coach and the coachee, that the company receives progress reports on attendance and themes agreed with the coachee rather than session content, that the coach will break confidentiality only where there is a risk of serious harm or a legal obligation, and that the coach keeps notes on the basis the agreement and the coach's privacy notice state, with the coachee's personal data processed under the UK GDPR by the coach as a controller for the coaching record; a company that expects to be told what its executive said in coaching has misunderstood what it bought.

What coaching is and is not

The agreement should state that coaching is not therapy, counselling, medical, legal, financial or HR advice, that the coach will refer a coachee to appropriate support where a matter is outside coaching, that the coach does not assess the coachee for the company or take part in performance or disciplinary processes, and that outcomes depend on the coachee; a coach who provides reports used in a dismissal has become a witness in a dispute.

Outcomes, reporting and the company's expectations

The agreement should set the reporting the company receives (a start, mid-point and end review agreed with the coachee, attendance records, an invoice), say that no particular outcome is guaranteed, and provide for the programme to end early where the coachee leaves the company, declines to continue or the relationship does not work, with fees for sessions delivered and a stated cancellation charge for the rest; where the coach provides team coaching or workshops, materials are the coach's copyright under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and licensed for the programme.

Status and the coach's business

A coach with several corporate clients, their own premises or online practice, own methods and materials, and no obligation to accept further coachees is running a business, and the agreement should say so; where the coach works through a company for a medium or large client, the off-payroll working rules in Chapter 10 of Part 2 of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 apply to the determination, which is made with HMRC's tool against how the engagement runs and which the agreement describes rather than decides.

Fees, cancellation, notice and liability

The agreement should state the programme fee or session rate, payment in advance or by stage with interest under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, a rescheduling notice inside which a session is charged, cancellation of the programme on notice with a stated proportion payable, and the coach's liability capped at the fees with consequential loss excluded and no liability for the coachee's decisions, tested under section 11 of the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977; the coach should carry professional indemnity insurance and should comply with any professional body's code the agreement names.

What it costs

Consultancy or contractor agreement, £595. Drafted for your business. Five working days.

Template set for repeat use, £895. One master agreement plus a short-form schedule you can reuse for every engagement. Five working days.

Buying online forms the engagement on payment. The scope is what the consultancy and contractor agreements page describes, you accept the Terms of Service at checkout, and I email you within four working hours to get started. If you would rather ask something first, email me.

What you get

• A clear, express assignment of intellectual property to your business
• Confidentiality provisions that protect your business information
• Restrictive covenants drafted at a scope a court will uphold
• Clear treatment of status, so the arrangement is not accidentally something else
• Payment, deliverables and termination provisions that match how you work
• A reusable structure, so the next engagement costs you nothing

What is not included

• Employment status determinations and off-payroll working assessments, which need your accountant
• Tax advice
• Disputes with a contractor you have already engaged
• Immigration and right to work compliance

Questions I am often asked

We are paying for the coaching. Can we see the coach's notes?

The notes are not available to the company. The agreement makes session content confidential to the coach and coachee, with the company receiving agreed progress reports. That confidentiality is what makes the coaching work, and the company gets its value from the outcomes.

The executive we are coaching has been put on a performance plan. Can the coach report on them?

The agreement keeps the coach out of performance and disciplinary processes, and the coach will not report session content. The company's HR process is separate, and the coaching may be paused by agreement.

What happens if the coachee leaves the company half way through?

The programme ends, fees for sessions delivered are payable and the agreement sets the proportion payable for the rest. The coach may offer to continue with the individual under their own terms.

Related guidance and services

• Consultancy and contractor agreements, £595, the service this page describes
• Contract review, £495
• Employment contracts and handbooks, £595
• Terms and conditions for an executive coach
• Terms and conditions for a business coach

This page is general guidance for businesses in England and Wales, not advice on your own circumstances. Last reviewed: October 2026. Email geoffrey@caesar.co.uk.