What are Terms of Business?
Under the Conduct Of Employment Agencies & Employment Business Regulations 2003 Act, which became law on April 6th 2004, anyone!!! (even party organisers & direct bookers who are not owners or employed by the venue) who introduces an artiste (work seeker)to a venue (hirer) is considered under law to be an agent, even if no commission is charged, and are legally obliged to ensure that their terms of business are in place with every artiste (work seeker), venue (hirer), promoter (hirer) and agent that they do business with before a booking is made.

Please do not be offended by the following documents that we are obliged to publish by law

Hawthorn Entertainment Ltd. Terms of Business
1) Hawthorn Entertainment Ltd may act as an Employment Agency or as an Employment Business, at its sole discretion. The way in which Hawthorn Entertainment Ltd. is acting for each booking will be made clear to all concerned parties prior to the completion of negotiations, and will be clearly shown in the documentation issued.

2) When acting as an Employment Agency
a) Hawthorn Entertainment Ltd acts as negotiator only and is not a party to the resulting contract. For this reason Hawthorn Entertainment Ltd cannot accept responsibility for non-fulfilment or breach of any such contract, but every reasonable safeguard is assured. Wherever possible in such cases, Hawthorn Entertainment Ltd will replace the act or engagement with one of similar price and quality.

b) Hawthorn Entertainment Ltd seeks to negotiate agreements for The Artiste in those branches of the entertainment field for which The Artiste is suited by reason of his talent and ability.

c) For the provision of this service Hawthorn Entertainment Ltd charges a fee equivalent to an agreed percentage of the contracted fee receivable by The Artiste, in accordance with our Commission Policy Statement. Hawthorn Entertainment Ltd will also collect any applicable tax (for example VAT), which is due under English Law. The charge may be made to either The Artiste or Promoter subject to the negotiated acceptance of the party in question.

d) The fee (commission) is charged only after the provision of the service has been completed. Therefore there is no provision for a refund of commission in any circumstances.

e) Where charged to The Artiste, the fee (commission) will still be due if The Artiste fails to appear, said non-appearance being as a result of any action or inaction of The Artiste.

f) Where charged to The Promoter, the fee (commission) is normally payable in advance and is always non-refundable.

g) Cancellation of any contract negotiated through Hawthorn Entertainment Ltd is not normally possible without the agreement of all concerned parties. In the event of cancellation by either party without cause of illness or other unavoidable circumstances, Hawthorn Entertainment Ltd reserves a right to levy a charge of up to 15% of the agreed fee against the cancelling party, to cover the additional expenses involved in the said cancellation. This is in addition to any amounts that may be made payable by either party under the terms of the said contract.
 

h) Hawthorn Entertainment Ltd normally acts as a negotiator only and as such may not enter into agreements on behalf of third parties. If at any time Hawthorn Entertainment Ltd is authorized to enter into agreements on behalf of The Artiste or The Client for any individual booking, such authority will be made known to both parties during the negotiation.

i) Hawthorn Entertainment Ltd may receive fees due to The Artiste (for example in the event of a no pickup booking or of arising at a dispute resolution) but must account to The Artiste for any such payment that it receives.

j) Agreements are made separately for each booking, and there is no requirement for any Artiste to accept any booking offered. The Artiste can therefore end the relationship by simply not accepting any further bookings and The Agent can end the relationship by not offering any such bookings

k) If any Artiste seeking employment under a normal non-exclusive agency representation agreement (i.e. who has not signed under a management or sole representation contract) should wish to cease being represented by Hawthorn Entertainment Ltd and have their name and details removed from any promotional materials issued by the agency, they can give a minimum of thirty days notice in writing. From that point no further promotional materials featuring The Artiste will be created, but it must be understood that it is not possible to remove information from hard copy products already published.

l) The Artiste will be required to honour any and all contracts negotiated and accepted prior to the expiry of such written notice. The Artiste must undertake to ensure that any ongoing commission or other financial remuneration due is paid to Hawthorn Entertainment Ltd promptly and in accordance with these Terms Of Business.

m) Any defamatory information (no matter how minor) regarding Hawthorn Entertainment Ltd or any client of Hawthorn Entertainment Ltd is strictly forbidden (including postings on Social Networking Websites). Any artiste found to be displaying information or personal comments about Hawthorn Entertainment Ltd or any client of Hawthorn Entertainment will be in breach of contract which may result in the current or future enfagement(s) being terminated.

3) When acting as an Employment Business
a) Hawthorn Entertainment Ltd is a party to each contract and accepts responsibility for its obligations under the terms of each individual agreement including the obligation to pay the contracted fee to The Artiste when it is due regardless of whether Hawthorn Entertainment Ltd has been paid by the customer.

b) The fee payable to The Artiste will be that fee agreed by him or her and duly indicated in the contract.

c) No fee other than the contracted fee is made

d) The Artiste will be employed under a contract for services

e) Any contract entered into between Hawthorn Entertainment Ltd and The Artiste will be for an agreed period (normally one performance) and will not provide for cancellation by either party

f) Since The Artiste will either be self-employed or an incorporated body there is no entitlement to holiday pay or any payment in lieu thereof

4) Commission and monies owed to Hawthorn Entertainment Ltd shall be remitted within 7 (seven) days from the invoice date or as otherwise stated in the written confirmation. This agency reserves the right to deduct monies owed to this agency by any individual Artiste from any monies due to that Artiste, and forward any balance.

5) In order to ensure that there are no non-appearances or let downs, all verbal agreements are confirmed by the signing of a written contract. In the event of very short notice bookings, the written contract may be sent after the event for your records.

6) The display and/or presentation of any artiste’s address and/or telephone number at an engagement negotiated through this agency shall be regarded as a breach of contract, and may render the Artiste liable to pay severe damages in respect of that breach.
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7) Any contract negotiated through this agency shall be subject to these terms of business unless otherwise agreed in writing between all concerned parties. In particular, any conflicting terms of business shall have no effect. The document “Commission Policy” forms part of these terms, and must be read and construed as such. All contracts to which these conditions apply shall be construed with English Law.

8) No servant or agent of this agency has the power to vary these terms and conditions.

9) Whenever the context so admits, words importing the masculine shall include the feminine and the singular number shall include the plural and vice versa as appropriate.

10) Any defamatory information (no matter how minor) regarding Hawthorn Entertainment Ltd or any client of Hawthorn Entertainment Ltd is strictly forbidden (including postings on Social Networking Websites). Any artiste found to be displaying information or personal comments about Hawthorn Entertainment Ltd or any client of Hawthorn Entertainment will be in breach of contract which may result in the current or future engagement(s) being terminated.

Hawthorn Entertainment Ltd. Commission Policy
Hawthorn Entertainment Ltd. normally charges a fee (usually referred to as a 'commission'), agreed in advance with the Artiste or Promoter.

Any appropriate taxes (for example Value Added Tax) will be charged at the applicable rate. At the time of writing Hawthorn Entertainment Ltd. is registered for VAT purposes and regulations require that VAT be charged at the rate of 15% on commission due.
Invoices will be automatically modified (and if necessary re-issued) as required by Law to allow for any changes made by Government to taxation regulations. This is beyond our control and could in some circumstances change the amount that will have to be paid even after a contract has been negotiated and our fee agreed, for example if the standard rate of VAT changes. At the time of writing we are not aware of any proposal by Government to change the current taxation regime.
The date of payment shall be:
In the case of payment by post, the date of the postmark on the envelope. * In the case of payment in person, the date on which the amount is physically paid.
In the case of payment in person, payment will be the date on which the amount is physically paid.
All accounts with overdue balances that exceed 30 (Thirty) days, will be subject to Statutory Compensation as well as Statutory Interest at the rate approved by the Government from time to time.

Please Note:
No responsibility can be accepted for cash posted through our letterbox. If it is stolen or for any other reason we do not receive it, you will have to pay again. We therefore recommend that you pay by cheque, by direct transfer (for example Internet Banking), or else ensure that you physically hand your cash to a member of staff or a person whose name you can take to ensure that such payments can be traced.

Monies owing to Artistes from Hawthorn Entertainment Ltd. will be paid within the contractually agreed terms or within 30 days if no such terms exist.

Hawthorn Entertainment Ltd. Touring Acts Policy
Prior to the tour, the artiste must give us details of where and how we may contact them during the tour. This is essential in case we need to contact them regarding a change of venue etc.

At the end of the tour, the artiste must contact this office to run through tour details. This enables us to sort out any outstanding balances more efficiently, thus minimising delays.

We normally settle outstanding balances with the artiste direct, provided that the artiste contacts us with the relevant details, i.e., to whom cheque is to be made payable, address etc., and that Tour details balance with our records.

Payment will be made by cheque immediately after the Tour. When booked through an artiste’s Agent or Representative, if the artiste does not contact us, the outstanding amount will be debited or credited to that Agent or Representative’s account.

At the discretion of the hirer, pick-up payments may be cash or cheque. If payment is made by cheque, then the hirer is not obliged to cash it.

Should an artiste fail to appear on any date on a ‘Nett’ run, the amount that Hawthorn Entertainment Ltd. has lost as a result of that non-appearance will be deducted from the balance of fees due for the tour.

The artiste is responsible for their own conduct, efficiency, punctuality and behaviour and that of all personnel under their control. The artiste must use their best endeavours to ensure that all personnel conduct themselves at the Venue and in its locality in a manner that does not cause offence, nuisance or disturbance to any customer or to the Venue management. The artiste agrees to immediately take such action as the Management may reasonably require dealing with any conduct by anyone under their control considered unacceptable by the Venue Management to include permanent removal of those persons from the Venue, if required.

Nett Bookings:
On ‘Nett’ bookings, the artiste is contracted for that period to Hawthorn Entertainment.

We will invoice each Hirer for artiste’s fees plus VAT, whether the artiste is VAT registered or not, as we are Principals to the Contract, as stipulated in VAT leaflet No.710/01/91. The Hirer will then claim back the VAT paid, using our invoice as a support document. At Venues designated for pick ups, the artiste will collect the contracted fee plus VAT at the current rate as shown on the invoice to the Hirer. Where a ‘Nett’ artiste is registered for VAT, that artiste must invoice us for the net fee plus VAT before the tour commences. Fees can be picked up as instructed above.

When collecting funds from the client, all artistes must ensure that they collect the full amount due as notified to them by Hawthorn Entertainment Ltd.

Commission paying artistes:
If the artiste is VAT registered, it is their responsibility to issue VAT invoices to venues and to collect their fees plus VAT from the venues designated for pick-ups.

Where payment is made by cheque, venues reserve the right to make the cheque payable to the business name on the VAT invoice.

A breach of any of the conditions stated herein may result in the termination by Hawthorn Entertainment of this contract with immediate effect and without prejudice to any other rights or remedies Hawthorn Entertainment has against the artiste.

These conditions form part of the contract and are binding.