welcome pack terms of engagement for mspa freelancers and ... · • online profile creation and...

© My Special PA Ltd 2014 MY SPECIAL PA LIMITED COMPANY NUMBER. 5248166

ADDRESS. FLAT 4 | 17 CHESHAM ROAD | BRIGHTON | BN2 1NB

Welcome Pack

&

Terms of Engagement

For MSPA Freelancers and Consultants

Organise - Support - Harmonise - Develop

TEL. +44 (0)1273 622 896 EMAIL. [email protected]

WEBSITE. WWW.MYSPECIALPA.CO.UK



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Contents

P. 1-5 About My Special PA

P. 6-8 Our Services / Price Guide & Rate Info

P. 8-10 How We Like To Do Things

P. 11-13 New Business Methodology

P. 13 Getting Paid & Insurance

P. 14 Marketing MSPA

P. 15 PA Team Time & Training

P. 15 Conduct

P. 17-19 Terms of Engagement

P. 20 Agreement (please sign and return)





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A very warm welcome to you…

You’ve received this document because you have expressed an interest in working for My Special PA.

We hope you find the following information interesting as well as informative. These are the things you

need to know and need to agree to before you start work as a Special PA.

If we’ve missed anything, please let us know – we’d appreciate your input and feedback as it contributes

to making us all better at what we do.

1. About My Special PA My Special PA (MSPA) was founded in 2009 by Emma de Polnay, formerly a set designer and art director for the Film and TV industry. MSPA is a business service designed for creative professionals who need administrative, commercial and business assistance without the full-time financial outlay. We offer freelance administrative and specialist business services to artists, designers, media professionals and other creative company owners, including business development, supplier liaison and marketing. Every Special PA has creative business experience and we ensure that we assign the team member whom best fits each client’s requirements, to enable a truly tailored support solution.

Key USP: liberating our clients from the often-overwhelming commercial and administrative

demands of their daily business, allowing them to focus on the creative core of their work.

1.1 The Key Benefits of MSPA Services To Our Clients

• Ad hoc support – the help they need, just when they need it.

• Each Special PA understands the key challenges of their clients work and if required, will be able to

offer realistic, practical solutions rather than just waiting to be told what to do.

• We have proven success and experience in generating new enquiries / business / sales.

• Time and money saving: Firstly, we would expect our hourly rate to be significantly lower than our

clients. If they’re spending time doing their own admin and business development when they could

be focused on their creative work, we guarantee we can save them money.

• Having an experienced assistant handling their client contact will help to enhance their business





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profile.

• We can build a strong, sustainable working relationship, allowing them to take time off work

confident in the knowledge that their business affairs are being dealt with in their absence.

• No employee overheads and if they're using our VA Services - No additional office overheads

either.

1.2 About Emma

Emma de Polnay – PA, Founder and Managing Director of My Special PA.

‘I am passionate about working with, supporting and advising creative professionals. I speak their

language, understand their challenges and find it enormously rewarding’ to see the difference that our

services make to our clients.’

Emma launched MSPA at the beginning of 2009 after detecting a distinct gap in the market for

administrative and business support services specifically for creatives. Emma has a combined creative,

project management and business background with over 10 years of professional art and design

experience. She has worked as a freelance art director and set designer for Film and Television, as a

practicing artist and as a business developer for graphic design and New Media agencies.

Emma has expertise in working strategically with creative individuals to help them further develop their

commercial success. She is a confident communicator, positive, motivated and very caring.





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MSPA is always looking for new team members. We are also thrilled to be working with a number of

creative and business savvy specialists and partners, whose experience and expertise will enable us to

expand and increase the services and availability we can offer to our clients.

We have helped individuals and S.M.E’s from the following professions:

• Arts (cross discipline)

• Designers (cross industry)

• MarComms, PR and Events

• Media

• Performing Arts

• Entrepreneurs

• Alternative lifestyle

• Teachers and trainers





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2. Our Services & Price Guide

Option 1. MY PA Administration & Lifestyle - Rates Begin At £28 p/hr. / £18 p/hr. to PA Please note: this rate is also applicable for any internal work you carry out for My Special PA. (copy as per Client Welcome Pack) This level of service is well suited to ‘just too busy’ individuals and companies that require regular and ongoing administrative and/or lifestyle support. When you engage a Special PA to deliver these services, you will benefit from working with a skilled consultant with proper business experience whom will work closely with you to understand and meet the demands of your world, whatever they entail. • 'Gatekeeping' - email filtering, diary and database management • Workspace management - spring cleaning, organisation and regular maintenance • Document creation and distribution – working to clients instruction • Mail shots • Lifestyle management • Errands

Option 2. BESPOKE PA Business Support & Administration - Rates Begin at £33 p/hr. / £22 p/hr. to PA Many of our clients require a level of the standard admin we offer in Option 1 combined with specialist and creative business support.

• Website updating and maintenance • E- newsletter and mailshot creation and distribution • Online profile creation and development e.g. LinkedIn • CV surgery • Artists statements • Creative brainstorming • Internal business planning • Client and supplier liaison • Social media management • Research

Option 3. SPECIAL PA Specialist Business Services - Rates Begin At £40 Per Hour /£28 p/hr. to PA This level of service allows creative individuals and companies to fulfill their need for specialist support e.g. business development, PR and marketing, but as a ‘bolt on’ service they can use as needed rather than a full-time hire. When they engage a Special PA to deliver these services, our clients will get the additional benefits of working with a consultant with first class organisational and administrative skills. • New business development and strategy • Sales and marketing • Advice and assistance with manufacturing and product / material sourcing • Art and design trade show and event staffing





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• Event management • Project management • Proposal creation • PR and media relations • Creative copywriting • Other creative services - please enquire 3. Rate & Expenses Information

• Our client rates start at £28 per hour. Cost of MSPA services are subject to the clients’ individual

requirements

• We pay our freelance consultants from £18 p/hour depending on the rate we’re charging their

client plus agreed expenses.

• Expenses: - whilst we are happy to work on site with our clients, our team is predominantly home

office based delivering virtual support to MSPA clients as required. Consequently, if we are required

to work away from our home offices, we request that related expenses i.e. travel fares and

refreshments are paid for by the client.

o Travel to work with client on site - to include working at clients workspace or other establishment i.e. cafe / working hub space - travel expenses including public transport, petrol and parking charges - all chargeable to client at cost

o Travel time to work with client on site is non-chargeable to client if the duration of the meeting on site is 4 hrs or over and the travel time is no more than 4 hrs (round trip)

o Refreshments whilst working with client (away from PA's own work base) - provided by client

/ paid for by or all chargeable to client at cost

o Meals - if the PA is working on site with the client / away from PA's own work base for 4 hrs plus - ideally a meal is to be provided by/ paid for by client / chargeable to the client or with prior agreement the PA takes 30mins -1hr off the clock to take a lunch break.

o Client related mobile and landline calls / mobile broadband connection usage (e.g. if there's no wireless connection) - all chargeable to client at cost

o Consumables / stationery and supplies - all chargeable to client at cost or replaced like for like.

• Please always retain travel /petrol receipts and any other applicable and pre-agreed proof of

expense and give them to Emma with your monthly invoice. You can simply photograph them and

email (or text). Please clearly label with the clients name.





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• The minimum booking period is 2 hours for VIRTUAL ASSISTANCE and 4 hours for ON SITE

ASSISTANCE (this also applies to meetings in cafes, city work hubs and members clubs)

• Overtime will be agreed with the client prior to commencement. It will be charged to the client and

paid to freelancer pro rata.

• We will pay you as soon as your client has paid us, unless we have an agreed alternative

arrangement.

• No VAT is applicable at the time you’ve received this Welcome Pack

• Client rates are subject to review.

• Services are always subject to availability; we work with a limited number of clients to ensure the

highest total dedication and quality of work

4. How We Like To Do Things (*indicates that training is required and available for you)

4.1 Hardware / Facilities

What you will need:

1. Laptop - running on MACOSX 10.6 or above / Latest Windows programme

Please note: Mac skills really are essential for My Special PA as a majority of our clients work with

Macs and often need our support. *It’s useful to have dual competence on PC but not essential.

2. Printer – ideally a combined unit (printing, scanning, copying, faxing)

3. Wireless Broadband – Reliable system from your home/ office

4. 3G Dongle – For travel, work on site and ‘hot desk’ work situations

5. Mail client – Macmail, Entourage /Outlook

6. Microsoft Office – latest version ideally

7. *Photo editing software – ideally Adobe Creative Suite or Photoshop Elements

8. Digital camera and or smartphone – variety of uses

9. *Social Media Organiser – i.e. Hootsuite / Tweetdeck t.b.d

*4.2 Email

My Special PA will provide you with an email address [email protected] and the

required server settings. Our email is hosted on Google Apps for Business, so you need to use the

IMAP settings for Gmail.

• ACCOUNT: Please set your account up as IMAP on all devices to enable it to sync correctly. i.e. a

message you’ve opened on your laptop should show as read on your phone

• USERNAME / EMAIL ADDRESS: [email protected]





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• PASSWORD: as supplied

• INCOMING MAIL SERVER: imap.gmail.com

• OUTGOING MAIL SERVER: smtp.gmail.com

• PORT: 993

*4.3 iCLOUD / Calendar Sharing

If you’re working with us we like to share our central MSPA calendar with you so you can add your

booking dates, meetings etc. and we can all be clear on each others whereabouts for contact / cover

etc.

If you use a Mac and you’re running on Mac OSX 10.7 (LION) or above - please sign-up for an I Cloud

account and then we can invite you to view and edit the main calendar with your I Cloud account ID.

For more information please click on the link - I CLOUD

If you’re not able to use I Cloud - let us know upfront and we will find some other way of sharing the

calendar with you online.

*4.4 Dropbox

We have an MSPA Dropbox account. Emma will share the folders you need to access with you by

email invitation. These will be ‘ADMIN’ which will contain all the timesheets and MSPA templates and

paperwork you need to do your job and your client folders ‘AN OTHER’ if you’re covering another PA’s

work (for any reason) you will be provided with access to their client folders.

Please Note: These folders contain confidential and copyrighted information so please only share the

contents with other MSPA team members, your clients and relevant 3rd party suppliers. Always

password protect your client’s login details (bank, email, online accounts) when you store these logins

in documents (ie. Word), within the MSPA Dropbox.

We use Dropbox because it provides Cloud-based and local access; the files are also backed up on a

portable HD at main MSPA site. If you have any queries please ask – we need to avoid losing any data

through ‘User Error’

*4.5 Highrise HQ





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We use Highrise HQ as our Contact Relation Management System (CRM) ALL MSPA leads, clients and

suppliers must be logged in this system and tagged appropriately. We will happily provide you with the

necessary training to use this system. When you begin working with us you will be invited as a user by

email, you will then need to set up your User account with username and password. It’s an excellent

system and can help you manage your leads and new client liaison.

You are also welcome to use the system to log your clients’ own contacts. Tag them appropriately i.e.

‘AN.OTHER SUPPLIERS’ and then you can make them invisible to other account users. It may however

be simpler to set up your client with his/ her own account and link your MSPA account. We can show

you how to do this as part of the training.

*4.6 Paperwork and New Client Procedures

Skills and Experience Questionnaire – Please complete the questionnaire sent to you with this pack.

Be as honest as you can, we’d like to get the clearest picture of your skillset so we can asses which

services you can confidently offer and the areas and where you may need more support and training

either internally or externally. This skills assessment will also help us determine the subjects matter for

our planned PA Team Time sessions (see 8. PA Team Time & Training)

Welcome Pack & Terms of Engagement - The first piece of paperwork you need to read and sign is

this one.

Client Welcome Pack – please read through this and familiarise yourself with the copy and conditions.





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5. MSPA - New Business Methodology

We aim to follow a process from an initial new business enquiry through to working with a new client.

Details may vary from case to case but this step-by-step guide, is here to help everyone who works

with MSPA to understand the work that goes into converting a new lead into a client. We offer new

business development services so we should be good at it internally too!

Please Note: At the time you’ve received this pack - all our PA’s are freelance consultants other than

Emma who is employed by MSPA.

1. Enquiries - new business leads typically come to us through the following channels: -

o Professional or personals referrals / word of mouth

o Networking activities

o Web enquiries – email or phone

2. Qualifying the lead - Emma typically qualifies new business leads through an initial phone call to

clarify their requirements and (if possible at this early stage) their budget. Emma will then arrange a

face-to-face meeting with the contact = free initial consultation.

At this stage, Emma often mentions a particular member of the team she has in mind, describes their

skills and directs the new contact / client to the Your Special PA page on the MSPA website, so they

can read more.

3. Send Information – Before the meeting, Emma will email our latest WELCOME PACK as a PDF so

they have the full information (other than what they’ve seen on the website) on who we are, what we

offer and what it costs.

5. Initial Consultation – Emma will discuss their requirements in more detail, without giving too much

information or advice away at this stage. This should just be a taster of what we can offer, but mainly

she aims to let them speak whilst she listens.

During this meeting we complete a NEW CONTACT FORM noting all their contact details, requirements,

relevant timescales and any other important details. Emma will then add these details to our CRM

(Highrise HQ) account with relevant notes and tags.

4. Assigning the right PA – From the information we have gathered, we’ll work out whom is the best

fit for this potential clients requirements. This is not always a black and white process; sometimes a

client may need support from multiple PA’s. This has always worked well and everyone servicing the

client is paid for the specific services they provide, and on the specific tier of service those skills are

categorised under (see p.6)





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Please Note:

o New contacts often require an additional initial consultation with the assigned PA. Time spent on

emails, calls, initial consultations and admin is not billable either to MSPA or the new contact /

client. These activities are classed as pitching for the business as a freelance consultant for

MSPA. We will wherever possible supply you with leads and if you start working with that lead,

you get paid the agreed rate through MSPA.

o We will also cover travel on a case by case basis.

6. Estimate/ Proposal – from our notes and the information the new contact / client has supplied, we

create a Estimate/ Proposal and email it to them for their consideration. This document also has our

MSPA Terms of Business included.

Please Note:

o Emma usually creates estimates but will require input from the assigned PA during this process.

There may also be a bit of toing and froing with the new contact / client to reach an agreement.

Typically however, if you’re at this stage the client is usually committed to hiring your help.

7. Sign Off - When your new client agrees to their estimate and wishes to start work, they need to print

their estimate, sign it and return to the main office contact address in the footer (all this

information is included in the estimate itself. They can also send / give it to their assigned PA

Please Note:

o If your clients’ requirements change, increase or reduce, ask them to let you know a.s.a.p. We

may need to amend their Estimate/ Proposal accordingly to maintain clarity of the brief and

arrangement.

8. Confidentiality & Kick Off!

When you begin your working arrangement, please provide your client with a signed Confidentiality

Agreement to protect the interests of all involved.

When you start working with a new client, we highly recommend your first session is on site in their work

space. This is to help you bond and also so they can give you any hard copy reference you will require for

working with them. If face-to-face on this first session just isn’t possible, we’d recommend you ‘kick off’

over a Skype video call.





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Please Note:

• For new clients a 50% deposit is payable to MSPA before work commences. For existing clients /

repeat business with a new projects this isn’t necessary.

• ESTIMATE / PROPOSALS must be signed and returned to us as a hard copy before work

commences.

• Any time taken to carry out experimental work and or research as requested by the client, will be

charged at the applicable hourly rate.

6. Getting Paid and Insurance

6.i Timesheets – Please use the templated TIMESHEET provided for you. Use one per client with the

month of work and the company rate that has been agreed. These timesheets must be submitted to

management (Emma) at the end of each month (ideally 28th day) so that we can raise the client invoice

and get you paid as soon as they pay us. File your timesheets in the relevant Client folder in ADMIN >

TIMESHEETS

6.2 Invoicing

Client Invoices: We will take care of all clients invoicing for you

Freelancer Invoices: Please invoice MSPA monthly by email Make sure your client timesheet is

complete and filed as instructed in TIMESHEETS above.

Invoice details for Freelancers:

• Invoice number • Company: My Special PA ltd • Month of Invoice • Your Name / Company (if applicable) • Your Account details • Rate i.e. £p/hr. • Brief description of the work • Hours of work • Clients’ name(s) as reference

6.3 Company Insurance

MSPA has company insurance as follows:

• Professional Indemnity





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• Employers Liability

• Public Liability

• Products Liability

Each freelance consultant is required to have his or her own Professional Indemnity and Public

Liability insurance. We can help you organise this but please note that the cost of this insurance is

your own responsibility.

7. Marketing MSPA

We have the following to email /send to clients, suppliers and for PR use

1. WELCOME PACK 2. PRESS PACK

Business Cards – will be printed for you (if necessary) when you are working for and with MSPA on a

regular basis.

E-mail signature – Please ensure you set this up to match core teams signatures with Social Media

Links (MSPA Facebook page / Your MSPA Twitter account / Your LinkedIn account). Emma will set this

up for you with a coded template

Website – Emma takes care of all updating and admin on the website. If we’d like you to do some

back-end admin, we’ll train you properly and provide you with required login details. This is billable time

at the MY PA rate

Blog – If you have a good idea for / or would like to write a blog post, please let us know and we’ll

provide you with the login information. We really welcome ideas for fresh content. There’s always a lot

of other stuff to do….

Twitter – Please set up a company Twitter account i.e. MySpecialPA_(postcode)

LinkedIn – Please amend your LinkedIn profile as ‘Currently working with MySpecialPA’ our company is

on there.

Facebook – We’ll make you an Admin for our page and welcome you posting relevant and agreed

information about your clients i.e. Exhibitions, Events, Sales etc.





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Networking – If you find an event you can represent MSPA at, find a number of potential clients (both

for yourself and other team members) and generally spread further awareness of the co. – please let

Emma know and we can arrange to fund the event fee, travel and pay you for the time you attend. All

within reason J

Internal Work – If you’re are asked to: attend a networking event, write a blog post, compose a

newsletter, work on admin, data entry or research for MSPA this time is billable at MY PA rate

8. PA Team Time and Training

Whilst working alone from home provides wonderful flexibility and of course minimal overheads, there is

a danger within any virtual based business for team members to feel a bit isolated and quite the

opposite of being ‘part of a team’.

At MSPA we are extremely keen for our PA’s to feel connected to and supported by the management

and other team members.

We we are currently looking into various good ideas for Team Time to include the following for the

benefit of all.

- Training in new software and apps to expand our skill bases and the services we can offer MSPA

clients.

- Bonding time to gossip and share any work and client challenges with the rest of the team in a

supportive and confidential space.

- Third party supplier sharing i.e. brand designers, SEO consultants

And….

- Of course some good fun stuff that we can also use for MSPA social media posts.

The exact details and a schedule for these sessions is still TBC, but as part of working with MSPA I’d like

to request a minimum of an hour per month from everyone who works with us, where we all login to a

Google Hangout session. An agenda for the session will be distributed before hand so we can all arrive

on the video call knowing what’s planned to maximise the time available.

Please Note: Team Time is non-billable to MSPA. This is time that we are asking you to invest as a

freelancer for your professional development and more crucially, your sense of job satisfaction.

Watch This Space……





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9. Conduct

9.1 Dress code - Please dress smartly / appropriately for face 2 face consultation meetings / client

meetings. You are an ambassador for the company so please prep-well and do us all proud.

9.2 Timekeeping - Pretty crucial as a PA – need I say more….

9.3 Holidays - All freelancers must try to be mindful of client agreements and expectations therefore a

suitable amount of notice, communication is required before taking time off if cover is needed.

9.4 Travel - Travel costs are covered by the client not by MSPA unless agreed otherwise. They are

charged at cost and must be agreed at ESTIMATE / PROPOSAL stage (Please see also (3) - Rates)





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10. Terms of Engagement

10.1 You agree to provide a consistent and high quality level of service to MSPA clients at all times.

10.2 You agree to uphold client and company confidentiality at all times and will always ensure a

confidentiality agreement is signed and delivered to your clients, prior to commencement of work.

10.3 You understand that working for MSPA ‘means’ that you are working as a freelance supplier of

specialist PA services to My Special PA ltd.

10.4 You understand that that there are both busy and quiet periods of the working year at MSPA. The

management team will do all they can to find suitable freelance client work for you, but that we cannot

guarantee you work.

10.5 You understand that if you plan ahead and take advantage of MSPA management support, our

contact database and resources, you can expand your working opportunities within the company.

10.6 You agree to keep MSPA clients and contact data stored on our Highrise HQ and Dropbox

accounts confidential and only use it for MSPA clients, internal marketing and business

development. Use of this data for promoting and marketing an individual clients business, can only be

done with the directors’ prior consent.

10.7 You agree to password protect your client’s login details (bank, email, online accounts) when

you store these logins in documents within the MSPA Dropbox.

10.8 You agree that if you discontinue work with MSPA, you will provide a minimum of 2 weeks notice

period to enable the management team to find your replacement. During this time, you will provide a

thorough written handover for the director and the team member replacing you. This must be emailed

to us as well as printed and distributed.

10.9 You understand that if for any reason you discontinue work with MSPA permanently, your user

accounts e.g. email and database will be deleted

10.10 You agree that if for any reason you discontinue work with MSPA, you will contact

your clients to explain why and bid them a personal farewell. This is out of common courtesy and to

preserve the clients relationship with MSPA in spite of your departure. You will also ensure that you

return everything that belongs to them.

10.11 You agree not to copy any of the MSPA branding or brand content - to include: design, copy and

service offer in order to sell your services as a competitor.





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10.12 You agree not to approach MSPA clients or contacts to offer freelance PA Services as a

competitor.

10.13 You agree that if you have skills / services you can offer MSPA clients which we do not already

provide, you will discuss this with MSPA directors prior to offering them to clients. An introductory fee

may also be applicable e.g. massage, personal training.

10.14 You agree that when you win new business as MSPA (e.g. using company equity, collateral, title

etc.) – your client is a MSPA client and you will need to work for them as a freelance consultant to the

company. MSPA will invoice your client, we will take our fee and we will pay you the remaining sum

(see section 2 & 3)

10.15 You agree that if you have any 3rd party suppliers you’d like to recommend, you will inform the

MSPA management prior to referring them to an MSPA client. We have some excellent preferred

professional partner relationships, which included negotiated introduction fees.

We are always interested to meet niche suppliers who specialise in working with Creative Professionals

and in the Creative Industries.

· Design Agencies – Design for Print and Web

· SEO Consultants

· Accountants & Bookkeepers and

· Legal Specialists

· Photographers

· PR Professionals

· Makers and manufacturers

10.16 You agree that you will always discuss any professional dispute you’re having with a client with

the MSPA directors prior to taking any action.

10.17 You agree that the company directors reserve the right to make weekly check-ins with the client

to make sure they’re happy with the service being provided

10.18 You agree that you are responsible for own tax liability, accounting and NICS and freelancer

insurance cover (see 6. Getting Paid and Insurance)

10.19 You agree not to invoice MSPA clients privately unless it’s for a service we definitely do not offer





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and it’s non-admin/ business related i.e. massage therapy / personal training

10.20 You agree to take full responsibility for your MSPA client relationship at all times. The only

exception to this term, is if there’s prior agreement to delegation to another member of the team or

emergency / unforeseen circumstances.

10.21 You agree not to for whatever reason work with MSPA clients free of charge, either by working

more hours than you're putting on your timesheet, or by offering them MSPA services out of hours (i.e.

hosting an evening event) because it benefits your own personal development / interests - All MSPA

services are always billable to our clients.

10.22 You agree that as part of working for MSPA, given adequate warning, travel paid and within a

**reasonable distance - if your client needs your help on site then you will offer this option. We are

not exclusively a VA service.

**Within the m25





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11. Agreement

Please confirm you’ve read this document and agree to all of our TERMS OF ENGAGEMENT by

printing, signing and returning a copy of this document to:

My Special PA - Company Directors – Flat 4, 17, Chesham Road, Brighton, BN2 1NB

Yours Sincerely

Emma de Polnay / MD - My Special PA

Date:

I –INSERT FREELANCER NAME - agree to the above COMPANY PROCEDURES & TERMS OF

ENGAGEMENT

Signature:

Date:

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