DORSET BUSINESS FOCUS / NEWS
Compliance made easy No matter what sector your business is in, you will have key regulations that you must comply with. Compliance can often be viewed as ‘dull but essential’ but is, in reality, super-important – like fire safety, environmental health and trading standards. Well, how do you manage them? If you tackle each one separately with a different regulatory agency, you’re almost certainly missing out on a more efficient way of doing things. It’s called a Primary Authority partnership. As a scheme, Primary Authority has been in operation for more than a decade, helping businesses across the country to get accurate, consistent regulatory advice that makes compliance simpler and easier. There are lots of benefits, that ultimately mean you’ll get more time back to work on growing your business: • Receiving all your regulatory support in one place • Having a single point of contact for enquiries, with agreed response times • Access to assured, professional and tailored regulatory advice • Support with complaint monitoring to identify trends • Developing a positive and collaborative relationship with local regulators You can form a Primary Authority partnership regardless of whether you’re a sole trader operating in one local authority area, or a larger regional or national company trading across multiple local authority areas, or if you only trade online. In any case, you can benefit from the scheme. Businesses that operate as part of a group, such as trade
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January 2022 | Dorset Business Focus
associations and franchises, can also benefit from entering a Primary Authority partnership. So how do they work? Many people will not have heard of the term Primary Authority let alone know how they can help their business. Originally launched in 2009 to help businesses with sites located in multiple areas, the scheme was expanded in 2017 meaning that any business can now participate in Primary Authority. So if you are just starting out in business, this means you can make sure you get it right from the outset, meaning you can invest with confidence in products, practices and procedures, safe in the knowledge that the resources you devote to compliance are well spent. Let’s consider some of the benefits of forming a Primary Authority partnership a bit more. Firstly, it gives you the confidence that your business is operating within the law. The introduction of new legislation is a regular occurrence and can have farreaching implications for businesses. The example of Natasha’s Law earlier this year is a good example of this, which requires food businesses to provide full ingredient lists and allergen labelling on foods prepackaged for direct sale on the premises. In addition to specific advice, a Primary Authority partnership also gives you a single point of contact for any regulatory queries that relate to your business, meaning you have one relationship to manage instead of what could four or five. This can help your business to cut down on red tape, reducing inspection times and reducing cost and confusion
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caused by conflicting advice whilst also helping you to build a positive, collaborative relationship with local regulatory services. Dorset Council has been successfully offering and running the Primary Authority partnership scheme with the likes of Kondor, Fladden Fishing and Hobby Craft – names you may very well recognise – underlining that it really can apply to any type of business. As a service, they have a team of specialist officers who cover a wide range of regulatory disciplines covering areas such as health and safety, food safety and food standards, licensing, agriculture, and product safety. Advice can be provided on a reactive basis, for example in relation to a business query, or on a proactive basis, where your business may want input into a review of a particular process. For information about how Primary Authority can help your business or to speak to a member of the Dorset Council team, visit: www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/-/ primary-authority-partnerships www.dorsetlep.co.uk
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