Sponsor meaning

This Checklist summarises the immigration issues to be considered on a relevant transfer under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE 2006), SI 2006/246, and sets out the steps required when participating in a transaction. It additionally highlights the relevant Practice Notes and the associated Precedent materials for reference. Immigration requirements during any transaction where TUPE 2006 does not apply fall outside the scope of this Checklist and are not addressed here. For a general outline of TUPE 2006’s effect and requirements, see: TUPE and asset purchases—overview. Initial considerations and due diligence In any scenario that may fall within TUPE 2006, robust, immigration‑specific due diligence is essential, particularly where a transferor employs sponsored migrants within its workforce. Immigration matters should be addressed at the earliest stage so the parties can plan for and comply with necessary deadlines, etc. Initial enquiries about the immigration status of transferring employees should begin at the start of the transaction process, and care should be taken to...

This checklist helps you to manage change within your organisation. It provides a list of suggested steps to work through for each planned change, along with questions to consider for each one. Managing change—suggested steps Key considerations Create impetus Do you have a clear and pressing case to act right now? Is this rationale widely and clearly understood? Can you express this case with facts, data, and numbers? Have you trialled your proposed message with other people? Build your champions Who will act as your executive sponsor? How involved will they be? Who in your team relishes change? Where are they located? Will they serve as a champion? Which contacts in other pertinent areas of the organisation share your vision? Comments (if any) (Insert any comments or thoughts about each step)...

This checklist outlines the essential documents needed at the principal stages of the project lifecycle: Project set up Project planning Project delivery Project closure It can be used alongside Checklist: Project management: key roles and governance—checklist. Project set up A project is regarded as ‘set up’ when a requirement or change has been identified. Permission to commence is provided via a mandate from a suitable senior figure in the organisation, usually the budget-holder who will finance the project. Project mandate the initial business case/justification for the project the purpose of the project how the outputs will be used the budget timescales for the work At this point a management team is formed, often as a project board or steering group, with a lead executive or sponsor appointed. A project manager and/or project support may also be named to handle day-to-day preparation of project documents. Project planning ...

ACA chair Stewart Hastie said the trade body backs the Labour government’s January 2025 proposal enabling companies that sponsor defined benefit pension arrangements to draw down substantial surpluses. He urged Pensions Minister Torsten Bell to deliver a pragmatic and successful new regime for defined benefit surplus release. Hastie stressed that pension trustees must remain central to the process, but that the necessary detail — including a new regulator code — should arrive sooner rather than later and underpin a practical approach if the behavioural shift sought is to be achieved...

Aon plc, the British‑American management consultancy, said it would ‘naturally’ give company directors more sway over a scheme if trustees of defined benefit plans were obliged to obtain the sponsor’s agreement to a new ‘statement of strategy’, as outlined by TPR earlier in March 2024. TPR also stated that managers of defined benefit retirement schemes must lodge the strategy alongside their routine valuation documents from 22 September 2024. A defined benefit pension delivers a guaranteed income each year for life, determined by a worker’s final or average salary...

Home Office enforcement and licence revocations In recent years, compliance and enforcement activity has intensified, with more suspensions and revocations. According to the Home Office, last summer it recorded 1,948 sponsor licence revocations between July 2024 and June 2025—over twice the 937 in the prior year, and far above the 261 and 247 recorded in earlier years. This sharp rise is linked to the expansion of digital compliance checks, underpinned by broader data sharing with HMRC on PAYE records, which enables the Home Office to spot more swiftly and accurately when a sponsored worker is not being paid in line with their CoS. This information exchange is expected to scale up further, with revocations likely to climb as a result. Collaboration with other government departments has also enhanced the Home Office’s ability to oversee sponsor obligations remotely, reflected in the shift from traditional in-person compliance audits to predominantly digital reviews for sponsors...

At any one time, most practices carry a handful of aged, typically modest, residual balances tied to client matters within the firm. In the normal run of business, handling these residual balances ought to be straightforward, routine housekeeping. On occasion, though, the volume and spread of residual balances is such that a more substantial project is needed to bring them back under firm control. This Practice Note explores practical questions that can confront the project sponsor, eg the COLP or COFA, when initiating a programme to address your firm’s residual balances. It sets out the circumstances that may prompt commencing a project, how best to start and organise the work, and offers pragmatic pointers designed to lighten the project sponsor’s workload considerably. It should be read in conjunction with Practice Note: Residual balances—law firms. In what circumstances will a residual balances project be required? You may have undertaken a residual balance project...

The Skilled Worker route The Skilled Worker route allows UK employers holding a valid sponsor licence to hire, or continue to employ, skilled individuals who are neither British nor Irish nationals. It is the principal route for entry to, and residence in, the UK for employment. The Practice Note: Sponsoring a Skilled Worker reviews the eligibility requirements connected to a sponsor issuing a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS), including the necessary skill level and salary. Once a CoS has been issued, and provided the applicant meets all other criteria, they can apply for entry clearance or permission to stay...

This fundamentals note reviews the wide-ranging overhaul of the UK listing regime that came into force on 29 July 2024. It also outlines the core provisions affecting companies seeking, or already holding, a listing as described in the UK Listing Rules sourcebook, including: Equity shares (commercial companies) International commercial companies secondary listing Shell companies Transition category What is the background to the UK listing regime reforms? Post-Brexit, with scope to depart from EU capital markets rules, the government announced an independent review of the UK listing regime in November 2020. Led by Lord Hill, a former EU financial services commissioner, the review aimed to make the UK more attractive for IPOs and improve capital raising on UK markets. The UK Listing Review Report, released in March 2021, set out a series of recommendations for both the government and the FCA. It noted a decline in London IPO activity in recent years—between 2015 and 2020 London accounted for just 5% of...

STOP PRESS : Significant reforms to the UK prospectus regime came into force on 19 January 2026 The framework now governing public offers of securities and admissions to trading in the UK is chiefly set out in the Public Offers and Admissions to Trading Regulations 2024, SI 2024/105 (the POATRs), together with the FCA sourcebook, The Prospectus Rules: Admission to Trading on a Regulated Market (PRM). The UK Prospectus Regulation and the FCA Prospectus Regulation Rules have been repealed. These reforms are intended to streamline capital raising and markedly cut the number of situations in which a company must publish an FCA approved prospectus when undertaking a further issue of shares...

A. Documents for main applicant Evidence of the sponsor parent(s)' income and funds: Examples of suitable evidence are set out below. While a six-month span is not mandated by the Immigration Rules, it is recommended as a reasonable timeframe for demonstrating income and savings. Payslips for the previous six months (for employed persons). And/or proof of business or self-employment income for at least the last six months, such as: (a) Letter from a registered accountant for the business confirming the sponsor parent(s)’ income during that period. (b) Invoices. (c) Business accounts. Personal bank or building society statements or passbooks covering the past six months. Any accountant providing a supporting letter must be registered with an appropriate professional regulatory body. Bank or building society statements should show what has been paid in and out of the accounts for the past six months...

Dear [ Applicant ], Skilled Worker entry clearance visa We are instructed [ by [ Sponsor ] ] to support you [ and your dependants ] with an application for UK entry clearance (a visa) under the Skilled Worker route. This route permits non‑British or Irish citizens who have a job offer from a UK employer holding a valid sponsor licence to work in the UK. Eligibility I understand you have been offered a post by [ Sponsor ] as a [ role ], with annual pay of £[ salary ] and a working week of [ number of weekly hours ] hours. Your sponsor confirms the role is within Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) 2020 code [ SOC 2020 code ], listed in Table [ Table number ] of Appendix Skilled Occupations of the Immigration Rules. For you, the applicable general salary threshold is [ general threshold amount ] and the going rate is [ going rate amount ]...

Resident Labour Market Test (RLMT) When placing a vacancy under the resident labour market test (RLMT), a sponsor must retain a screenshot of the website taken on the day the advert first goes live, unless the advert itself shows the date it was posted, in which case the screenshot can be produced at any point while the listing remains valid. See Practice Note: Resident Labour Market Test. If the wording of the advert is altered, the screenshot held by the sponsor to meet the above requirement will not match the actual particulars of the role (including the remuneration package). This inconsistency could lead, on audit, to a finding that the RLMT process was not followed. To minimise the risk of non-compliance on this matter, it is advisable to repost the advert, capture the requisite screenshots on the first day it appears as required by the RLMT, and refrain from changing the advert’s contents throughout the minimum 28-day period...

A Sponsor may submit applications for multiple licence tiers concurrently; however, in the scenario raised in this Q&A it would be unwise, as approval of one would, by necessity, preclude success of the other. For a Skilled Worker licence (a Worker route), one of the criteria is that the company is lawfully operating or trading in the UK. The Home Office has, of late, taken a firm stance in rejecting Sponsor Licence applications under the Skilled Worker route where the business is not yet producing income—often described as ‘pre‑revenue’. Although limited cases exist in which a pre‑revenue enterprise might still obtain a licence, the prevailing position now is that such bids are typically declined. This reflects current Home Office practice today...

This is a Q&A about whether it is necessary for dependants to apply to switch categories at the same time as their relevant points-based system (PBS) migrants. The Points Based System (Dependant) Guidance states, as a general rule, that where the principal migrant changes employer or education provider, receives a new certificate of sponsorship and applies for leave to remain to work or study with their new sponsor, their dependants are not obliged to apply for leave to remain at the same time...