Mercia - Training Services Specification

2. SCOPE OF THESE TRAINING SERVICES SPECIFICATIONS

2.1 These Training Services Specifications together with the Subscription Services Specifications and the Company General Terms and Conditions shall apply to all Orders placed by the Client.

2.2 Any Training Services provided under the terms of this Agreement are provided to the Client, and the Company shall not be under any obligation to provide the Training Services to any other party.

2.3 If the Company's performance of its obligations under this Agreement is prevented or delayed by any act or omission of the Client, then, without prejudice to any other right or remedy it may have, the Company shall be allowed an extension of time to perform its obligations equal to the delay caused by the Client.

3. PROVISION OF TRAINING SERVICES AND CLIENT WARRANTIES

3.1 In the event that the Company requires the decision, approval, consent or any other communication from the Client in order to provide the Training Services or any part thereof at any time, the Client shall provide the same in a reasonable and timely manner. The Client acknowledges that any delay on the Client’s part of providing any such decision, approval, consent or any other communication may delay the provision of the Training Services, for which the Company shall have no liability to the Client.

3.2 If the nature of the Training Services requires that the Company has access to the Client’s property, the Client shall provide access to the same as required.

3.3 The Company reserves the right to change the format of an advertised face to face or Mercia Live event at any point, for any reason.

3.4 The Client undertakes to support any Training Services provided through appropriate marketing and promotional channels and to collaborate with the Company on any appropriate joint marketing or promotional projects relating to the Training Services.

3.5 The Client undertakes to ensure its personnel exercise the Training Services benefits in accordance with the terms of this Agreement.

3.6 The Client warrants that it shall not engage in joint promotions with any third party in relation to the Training Services without the Company’s prior written consent.

4. TRAINING BOOKING CONDITIONS

4.1 All face-to-face courses, Conferences, Mercia Live virtual classrooms and on-demand recorded webinars must be booked in advance.

4.2 Except for on demand, all courses have a maximum capacity.

4.3 You will be sent an invoice by email for your course fees and VAT, unless covered by a subscription membership. Our payment terms are 30 days.

4.4 We will send you a confirmation of your booking advising you of the date, time and for face-to-face courses the location of the course. If you have not received confirmation within 10 days of making your booking, please call us on 0330 058 7141.

4.5 Joining instructions for face-to-face and Mercia Live courses will be sent by email to your chosen contact seven days before the date of the course. These will include venue directions or link to the live webinar. Joining instructions for on-demand recordings will be sent to Your Mercia Account area.

5. TRAINING CANCELLATIONS AND SWAPS

5.1 The Company reserves the right to cancel, or make changes to, any event shown without prior notice.

5.2 If We need to cancel a public course or a live webinar, delegates will be notified of the cancellation as soon as possible prior to the date of the course, except in exceptional circumstances such as the illness of the lecturer.

5.3 In the event of cancellation or postponement of a course or workshop, The Company’s liability will be limited to a full refund of the amount paid used for the course. The Company shall have no liability in respect of travel and / or other costs.

5.4 If You are unable to attend a course, your cancellation must be made via email with a read receipt. Refunds will be subject to a 20% administrative charge of the value of the course.

5.5 No refunds will be given for cancellations made within fourteen (14) calendar days of the date of a course.

5.6 If you wish to transfer and attend a course on an alternative date, fourteen (14) days’ notice must be given via email with a read receipt.

5.7 Refunds will not be given for non-attendance on a course and / workshop.

5.8 The Company reserves the right to charge £25 administration fee in relation to postponed / swapped courses and / or workshops.

5.9 Once an On-Demand recording has been made available cancellations will not be accepted.

6. FACE-TO-FACE COURSES

6.1 Course documentation is only provided to delegates booked onto a course.

6.2 Printed copies of notes are not supplied at the event however a digital copy will be provided in the joining instructions in advance of the course.

7. MERCIA LIVE COURSES, CONFERENCES AND ON-DEMAND RECORDINGS

7.1 All delegates attending an event must be booked. Firms allowing team members to watch a Mercia Live event or On-Demand recording without booking shall be a breach of the Agreement.

7.2 The relevant course documentation shall only be provided to those who book and should not be shared.

7.3 Printed copies of notes are not supplied for either live events or recorded webinars. A digital copy of the notes for Mercia Live CPD courses will be provided in the joining instructions, along with the link to the course, which are sent seven days prior to the course. Notes for on-demand recordings can be downloaded from the course within your Mercia Account.

7.4 Members may only book Mercia Live courses which run in their membership period free of charge.

7.5 Members are given access to the full library of current on-demand recordings during their membership period. Non-members who purchase an on-demand recording have access to the webinar for 12 months from date of release.

7.6 The content of recorded on-demand training is the content as at the time of recording and neither Mercia nor its presenters are liable for any errors or omissions in that content. Mercia reserves the right to remove webinars that, for whatever reason, are deemed to be out of date.

8. CERTIFICATE IN PROBATE AND ESTATE ADMINISTRATION

8.1 The Company offers a course followed by an assessment leading to a Certificate in Probate and Estate Administration, which forms part of Your application to ICAEW for authorisation.

8.2 You are required to book to attend the live courses through Mercia Group.

8.3 The pass mark requirement is 50%. Candidates whose mark is marginal will have their paper independently marked by a second marker.

8.4 The Company will not enter into correspondence or discussions with candidates regarding their marks or their answers to specific questions. Candidates are not entitled to see their marked paper.

8.5 An individual may choose to attend the course, but not take the assessment. However, an individual may not take the assessment unless they have attended the course or have undertaken other suitable training.

8.6 In some circumstances, your previous training may entitle you to take the exam. This shall be at the Company’s discretion.

8.7 The course and the assessment are not included in the price of the Training Memberships.

8.8 Any cancellations or changes to the booking will incur a £50 administration fee.

9. MEMBERSHIP

9.1 CPD Face-to—Face Training Membership offers unlimited access to all CPD face-to-face technical training courses, all CPD Mercia Live virtual classrooms and on-demand CPD recordings (excluding Early Careers courses), for the duration of membership.

9.2 CPD Digital Training Membership offers unlimited access to all CPD and Mercia Live virtual classrooms, on-demand CPD recordings for the duration of membership.

9.3 Early Careeers Digital Training Membership offers unlimited access to all Early Careers Mercia Live virtual classrooms and on-demand Early Careers courses ), for the duration of membership.

9.4 All memberships are subject to the Company’s Fair Usage Policy.

9.5 All memberships include access to the courses listed on the Mercia website. All memberships exclude attendance on the Certificate in Probate and Estate Administration courses and assessments, Skill, Management and Leadership programme (unless Plus membership), in-house courses and any conferences, unless specifically included by a bespoke agreement.

9.6 Members are eligible for a 10% discount on any training not included in their chosen membership option. Members are also eligible for discounts on other products and services. Please call us on 0330 058 7141 for more information.

10. MEMEBERSHIP TERM AND FEES

10.1 Memberships are a 12-month subscription

10.2 All membership fees are per person per month plus VAT. All memberships must include all chargeable staff within the firm, regardless of whether they will be attending courses and regardless of the number of hours worked. You agree to notify the Company of additional members of staff omitted from any current membership which shall be charged at the then current rate. Failure to notify the Company shall constitute a breach of this Agreement.

11. CHANGES TO YOUR MEMBERSHIP

11.1 You must notify Mercia in writing or by email with a read receipt of any changes that you wish to make to your Membership during the year including any leavers and new joiners. For clarity any leaver may be replaced by a new joiner so that the total number of individuals in the membership has not changed. Any additional individuals will be charged a pro-rated amount for the remainder of the subscription period.

11.2 The Company’s fair usage policy enables firms and individuals to meet all their training needs within the fixed monthly payment. A very small number of clients abuse the unlimited nature of the package. If a client’s usage is excessive, unfair or affects other clients’ enjoyment of our training we will first raise our concerns with that client. However, in extreme cases we reserve the right to increase the membership charge for the firm or individual or to cancel the membership.

12. CONFERENCE EVENT TECHNOLOGY

12.1 We use event technology to manage registration.

12.2 A list of delegates will be included in the event guide that is provided to attendees on the day, this will include the delegate name, job title and organisation.

12.3 We use Zoom a virtual event platform and event application, to deliver some events and manage your access to it. Where applicable, You will receive emails via this platform with essential operational information and reminders of the benefits and how to log-in.

13. STUDENT TRAINING AND MONITORING

13.1 The Company offers a full training and monitoring package for students studying for the ICAEW Chartered Accountancy qualification (ACA) or the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants qualification (ACCA) and working for member firms Exam tuition is generally provided by Kaplan Financial (Kaplan), although we also have links to other training providers. Mercia Group Ltd provides its own practical training too.

13.2 The Company monitors the progress of each student individually to identify any problems at an early stage and to discuss them with the student, the training provider and, if necessary, with the employing firm.

13.3 Your Student Training and Monitoring contract with Mercia Group is for 12-months running from 1 August to 31 July.

13.4 Mercia Group’s Student training and monitoring service is a 3-part process. Students are registered with us from the start of their training contract, and we work closely with the employing firm to map out a programme of study and client work to take them through their training and exams.

13.5 Tuition for the professional exams is normally provided by Kaplan, with whom we have negotiated favourable terms, though we can work with other training providers. Mercia Group monitors their tutorial arrangements closely.

13.6 We provide face-to-face and Mercia Live Student Workshops in London throughout the period of the training contract, to teach and improve practical skills at work.

13.7 We provide all administration related to the training, and a full monitoring service for each student to ensure that any problems are identified and dealt with at the earliest possible opportunity. We also provide counselling services in relation to the student’s studies, and access to an impartial person independent of their office to whom they can speak confidentially if necessary.

13.8 We will write to you annually in the last two months of your contract to provide you with details of the costs for the forthcoming year and agree the students to be included in the contract, together with any amendments to our terms and conditions.

13.9 You agree to work with The Company to assist the training of your students in the following ways:

13.9.1 advise Mercia of the commencement date of each student, and the date that they leave your employment, if applicable;

13.9.2 advise Us of any absence due to illness from courses run by either Kaplan or Mercia;

13.9.3 advise Us of a student’s decision to defer or cancel tuition course modules or professional exams;

13.9.4 Your qualified person responsible for training will meet with Mercia staff on an annual basis to prepare a Mercia Group course programme for your students to fit in with the work that they are undertaking within Your office;

13.9.5 ensure your students attend their progress tests and mock exams, including the Mercia Saturday mock exams;

13.9.6 pay Kaplan’s tuition fees and course material fees promptly when they become due (not applicable for those students studying under a Level 7 apprenticeship); and

13.9.7 comply with your obligations as a training firm for ICAEW or ACCA.

13.10 Your students enter into a training agreement with You at the start of their training, setting out what you expect from them during the term of their training.

13.11 Students are responsible for ensuring that they book to attend the ICAEW exams at the appropriate time.

13.12 The Company shall manage the overall administration relating to practical student training courses and makes students’ course bookings directly with the exam tutors.

13.13 The Company will prepare computerised ‘Course Programmes’ for each student.

13.14 The Company will work closely with You, the employing firm, throughout your students’ training process.

13.15 Tuition for the ICAEW (or ACCA) courses are invoiced to the Company by Kaplan (unless it is part of an apprenticeship levy or government funded) and then invoiced to You.

13.16 Payment for our face-to-face or Mercia live Student Workshops shall be made directly to the Company and charged according to the number of workshops attended. Payment may be made at the time of booking or by way of Membership Subscription.

13.17 Monitoring fees for students are invoiced to you quarterly in advance, for payment within 30 days.

13.18 All Fees are subject to VAT at the prevailing rate.

13.19 The Company reserves the right to suspend services in the event of default on any payments and to take appropriate action to collect any outstanding amounts.

13.20 Notice of cancellation of a Training and Monitoring contract by either party must be given in writing no later than one month prior to the end of the then current contract.

13.21 Should a student leave your employment, you may withdraw him or her from the Training and Monitoring contract with immediate effect. For any students who leave employment during the first 3 months of the programme 3/12 of the fee will be payable and you should notify Meric by the leavers form by no later than 30th November or the full 12 month fee will apply. All other leavers between 1st September and 31st August will be charged the full annual fee.

13.22 Mercia Group Ltd reserves the right to withdraw support for a student who does not comply with the Student undertakings detailed above, or who has a history of failing exams. We will first raise our concerns with you, the training partner and the student before giving written notice of the withdrawal of our support.

14. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

14.1 The Mercia programme is correct at the time of launch but the content may be subject to change. The Company reserves the right to update the content of its brochures and website s at any time without notice. Current information about courses running can be found on the Mercia website at www.mercia-group.com

14.2 Neither the Company nor the course presenter shall accept any responsibility for You, an individual and / or the Firm acting upon or refraining to act upon any advice and / or training received during any of the courses contained in a Mercia programme, or programme notes.

14.3 The content of the course may vary dependent on the speaker and course location.

14.4 Mercia reserves its copyright over all training and all materials and recordings associated with it, and no licence is hereby granted for You or others in Your organisation to copy or distribute, whether as a commercial activity or otherwise, any recording of it, or the materials associated with it, including all links to such recordings and materials that may be sent to you.