Business types

Date published: 15 April, 2015

To make sure we understand the nature of the business you represent and what your role in it is, and in order to meet the regulatory, audit and security requirements placed on us, we will ask you to tell us who fulfils certain roles within your business. These roles are:

Business Member: These are individuals who own or control the business and who receive benefit from the activity of that business and hence from any grant or subsidy that we pay. In some cases, there are no individual beneficiaries of a business entity.

The guidance below will help you to decide who you should record in this role, depending on the nature of the business.

Responsible Person: A Business Member nominated to take responsibility for ensuring that the information we hold about the business is accurate, and for authorising (mandating) a third party access online, such as an Advisory Firm to act for the business.

A Responsible Person can also authorise someone within their own business (a “Business Representative”) to carry out transactions on behalf of the business.

Advisory Firm: This is a company that acts on behalf of or represents a business, but is not part of it. Any of the business types listed below may mandate an Advisory Firm to act on their behalf.

The arrangements for businesses can be complex or open to interpretation. If we do not have a clear understanding about the structure of your business, or require evidence of its arrangements, we will seek further information and may approach you for this information at any time.

If you have any difficulty in identifying and selecting your business type from the types available on the Rural Payments System, then please select the type ‘Other’ and we will advise if we need you to provide further information.