Legal statement

General
About EY
The “ey.com” website
Legal Disclaimer
Audit Firm Governance Code
Regulatory statements
Employment Tribunal: Costs estimate for an unfair or wrongful dismissal claim
Costs information for services to individuals in relation to the preparation and submission of immigration applications

1. General

The UK firm Ernst & Young LLP (“EY UK”) is a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales with the registration number OC300001. Its principal place of business and registered office is 1 More London Place, London SE1 2AF. EY UK is a member firm of Ernst & Young Global Limited.

2. About EY

EY is a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services. The insights and quality services we deliver help build trust and confidence in the capital markets and in economies the world over. We develop outstanding leaders who team to deliver on our promises to all of our stakeholders. In so doing, we play a critical role in building a better working world for our people, for our clients and for our communities.

“EY” in this legal statement refers to the global organisation of member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited (“EYG”), each of which is a separate legal entity. EYG, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients.

View a list of EY member firms and affiliates (July 2024) under Audit Regulation 2.12 of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW).

The EY network is divided into three areas: Americas, EMEIA and Asia Pacific.

Americas

The member firms of EYG operating in North, Central and South America, as well as Ernst & Young (Israel) Ltd. (the “Americas Area Firms”), are separate and independent legal entities that are, directly or indirectly, members of Ernst & Young Americas LLC.

Ernst & Young Americas LLC is a Delaware limited liability company that coordinates the activities of the Americas Area Firms. It does not provide professional services to clients and does not participate in client engagements. Although Ernst & Young LLC oversees implementation of EYG policies at Americas Area Firms and facilitates their cooperation, it does not control or manage, or have any ownership interest in, any Americas Area Firm. Ernst & Young Americas LLC is not the agent of any Americas Area Firm, nor does it have any authority to represent or bind any thereof. No Americas Area Firm is the agent of Ernst & Young Americas LLC, nor may any of them represent or bind Ernst & Young Americas LLC in any way.

EMEIA

The member firms of EYG that operate in Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa (the “EMEIA Firms”) are separate and independent legal entities and are in part, directly or indirectly, members of Ernst & Young EMEIA Limited.

Ernst & Young EMEIA Limited is an English company limited by guarantee and is the principal governance entity in EMEIA for the EMEIA Firms. Ernst & Young EMEIA Limited does not carry on any trade or other activities with a view to profit and it is prohibited by its constitution from providing professional services. Accordingly, it does not participate in client engagements. Furthermore, although it facilitates the coordination of these firms and cooperation between them, Ernst & Young EMEIA Limited does not control or manage or have any ownership interest in any EMEIA Firm. Ernst & Young EMEIA Limited does not act as agent for or have any authority to represent or bind any EMEIA Firm and no EMEIA Firm acts as agent for or has any authority to represent or bind Ernst & Young EMEIA Limited.

EY Europe SCRL is a Belgian limited liability company, a member of EYG and the parent entity of certain EMEIA Firms in Europe. Ernst & Young Europe LLP is an English limited liability partnership, a member of EYG and Ernst & Young EMEIA Limited and the parent entity of certain other EMEIA Firms in Europe. Neither EY Europe SCRL nor Ernst & Young Europe LLP provide professional services or participate in client engagements. Although each of them is the parent entity of certain EMEIA Firms, neither EY Europe SCRL nor Ernst & Young Europe LLP act as agent for or have any authority to represent or bind any EMEIA Firm or Ernst & Young EMEIA Limited, and neither Ernst & Young EMEIA Limited nor any EMEIA Firm acts as agent for or has any authority to represent or bind EY Europe SCRL or Ernst & Young Europe LLP.

Asia-Pacific

The member firms of EYG that operate in Asia-Pacific (the “Asia-Pacific Firms”) are separate and independent legal entities and are, or will be, directly or indirectly, members of Ernst & Young Asia-Pacific Limited.

Ernst & Young Asia-Pacific Limited is a Hong Kong company limited by guarantee and is the principal governance entity in Asia-Pacific for the Asia-Pacific Firms. Ernst & Young Asia-Pacific Limited does not carry on any trade or other activities with a view to profit and it is prohibited by its constitution from providing professional services. Accordingly, it does not participate in client engagements. Furthermore, although it facilitates the coordination of these firms and cooperation between them, Ernst & Young Asia-Pacific Limited does not control or manage or have any ownership interest in any Asia-Pacific Firm. Ernst & Young Asia-Pacific Limited does not act as agent for or have any authority to represent or bind any Asia-Pacific Firm, and no Asia-Pacific Firm acts as agent for or has any authority to represent or bind Ernst & Young Asia-Pacific Limited.

3. The “ey.com” web site

The “ey.com” Web site (this “Site”) is comprised of global content, which relates to the international business and operations of EY, and individual country content, which relates to the local business and operations of a member firm.

The global content on the Site is owned and operated by EYGM Limited ("EYGM"). EYGM Limited is a limited liability company registered in the Bahamas and is a member firm of EYG. EYGM is a central coordinating entity and does not provide services to clients.

The relevant local member firm(s) owns and operates the local content on the individual country pages.

4. Legal Disclaimer

By using this Site, you are agreeing to be bound by the following terms and conditions.

The information on this Site is intended to furnish users with general information on matters that they may find to be of interest. While every effort has been made to offer current and accurate information, errors can occur. Furthermore, this Site may contain references to certain laws and regulations. Laws and regulations will change over time and should be interpreted only in light of particular circumstances.

EY DISCLAIMS ALL LIABILITY AND RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY ERRORS OR OMISSIONS IN THE CONTENT CONTAINED ON THIS SITE.

All content on the Site and all services provided through it are provided "as is", with no guarantees of completeness, accuracy or timeliness, and without representations, warranties or other contractual terms of any kind, express or implied. EY does not represent or warrant that this Site, the various services provided through this Site, and / or any information, software or other material downloaded from this Site, will be accurate, current, uninterrupted, error-free, omission-free or free of viruses or other harmful components.

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMISSIBLE PURSUANT TO APPLICABLE LAW, EY DISCLAIMS ALL LIABILITY TO YOU AND EVERYONE ELSE IN RESPECT OF THE CONTENT ON THIS SITE AND ALL SERVICES PROVIDED THROUGH IT, WHETHER UNDER ANY THEORY OF TORT, CONTRACT, WARRANTY, STRICT LIABILITY OR NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE, AND WHETHER IN RESPECT OF DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE OR SIMILAR DAMAGES, EVEN IF EY WAS ADVISED, KNEW OR SHOULD HAVE KNOWN OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

The information presented on this Site should not be construed as legal, tax, accounting or any other professional advice or service. You should consult with an EY or other professional advisor familiar with your particular factual situation for advice concerning specific tax or other matters before making any decision. You should not send any confidential information to any member firm of EYG until you have received agreement from the firm to perform the services you request.

RSS Feeds, Podcasting and eMail Updates – Terms of Use
RSS feeds, podcasting and email updates are free services offered by certain EY member firms to individuals for private, non-commercial use. The EY RSS feed is a means by which EY offers article headlines, descriptions and links in XML to individuals who use RSS readers or aggregators. A podcast is an audio program for which individuals can subscribe. EY makes podcasts available to individuals for their own personal use. RSS, podcasting and email update aggregators may incorporate the EY feeds into their directories for the benefit of individuals using the aggregator. Any other use is prohibited, including copying, reproducing, republishing, uploading, posting, transmitting, or distributing our feeds or podcasts in any way by any means.

EY reserves the right to discontinue our feeds, podcasts and email updates at any time. All content, imagery, and logos that appear within the EY RSS feed, podcasts and email updates are owned by EYGN Limited (“EYGN”) and all rights are reserved. EYGN is a member firm of EYG. EYGN is a central coordinating entity and does not provide services to clients.

Linking
You may link to this Site provided that such link does not involve:

unauthorised use of our logo;
any false claim (actual or implied) of endorsement by, or other relationship with, EY or local member firm(s);
framing or embedding of any pages of our Site; or
other infringement of our trademarks, copyright and/or other intellectual property rights.

EY does not bear any responsibility whatsoever for the content, accuracy or security of any websites that are linked (by way of hyperlink or otherwise) to this website.

Certain links on this Site lead to servers maintained by individuals or organisations over which EY has no control. EY makes no representations or warranties regarding the accuracy or any other aspect of the information located on such servers. A link to a third party’s website should not be construed as an endorsement by either EY or that third party of the other or its products and services.

Please be aware that this Site sometimes contains links to other sites that are not governed by this privacy notice. Visitors to this Site may be directed to third-party sites for more information. We make no representations or warranties regarding how user data is stored or used on third-party servers. We recommend reviewing the privacy notice of each third-party site linked from this Site to determine their use of your personal data.

To view our privacy policy for Pathmotion, please click here and to view our privacy policy for RMP Enterprise, please click here.

Copyright Notice
Except where noted otherwise, all material on the global portion of the Site is Copyright © EYGM Limited, and on the individual country sites, local material is Copyright © to the relevant member firm(s). All rights reserved. No part of the materials on this Site, including but not limited to the text, graphics and html code, may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, or by any means without EYGM's written permission or, in respect of local content on an individual country site, the written permission of the relevant member firm(s).

“EY” and the stylised EY symbol are registered or pending registration with the United States Patent and Trademark Office and with other trademark offices around the world.

5. Audit Firm Governance Code

The Financial Reporting Council’s (FRC’s) Audit Firm Governance Code (AFGC) provides a benchmark of good governance practice against which firms that audit listed companies, such as EY, can report. The 2022 revised AFGC focusses on the promotion of good governance of audit firms and better alignment with the UK Corporate Governance Code, enhancement of transparency over and above the requirements in the EU Audit Regulation, and improvement of engagement between firms, investors, Independent Non-Executives (INEs) and Audit Non-Executives (ANEs).

The EY UK Transparency Report (“Report”) provides details on EY UK and the Global EY network’s global policies and procedures. It confirms how EY UK has applied the principles and provisions of the AFGC. The Report also shows how EY UK complied with the Local Auditors (Transparency) Regulations 2020, and Article 13 of the EU Audit Regulation (537/2014). In addition to this information, EY UK publishes an Audit Quality Report and Impact Report.

The AFGC also requires certain information to be available on a firm’s website, please see below:

Details on how EY supports its commitment to the professionalism, openness and risk management principles of the AFGC through recruitment, development activities, objective setting, performance evaluation, remuneration, progression, other forms of recognition, representation and involvement can be found in the Report on the EY website. This page also provides information on the INEs and ANEs, stakeholder engagement, the firm’s support for the AFGC and details on its audit committee, amongst other things.

Details concerning the firm’s engagement with shareholders and listed companies, and the related contact details, are available in the Report.

6. Regulatory statements

The UK firm Ernst & Young LLP is a multi-disciplinary practice. Its services are subject to oversight by a number of regulators. In particular:

The firm is regulated by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW). The ICAEW Code of Ethics can be found at www.icaew.com/en/technical/ethics/icaew-code-of-ethics/icaew-code-of-ethics. The firm is registered to carry on audit work in the UK by the ICAEW and details of our audit registration can be viewed at www.auditregister.org.uk under reference number C009126168.

The firm is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). Details of our licence can be found here; further details concerning the SRA and the SRA Code of Conduct can be found at https://www.sra.org.uk. The SRA guidance concerning the regulation of multi-disciplinary practices can be found here. The SRA only regulate certain services provided by the firm. Where we provide services which are regulated by the SRA, we will inform clients in writing, identifying the specific services which are subject to SRA regulation. In accordance with Rule 2.1 of the SRA Transparency Rules, complaints information in relation to SRA-regulated services can be found here.

The firm is authorised to perform certain regulated activities in the UK which are subject to regulation by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Further details can be found on the Financial Services Register at www.fca.org.uk/firms/financial-services-register under registration number 196203.

7. Employment Tribunal: Costs estimate for an unfair or wrongful dismissal claim

Set out below are our typical estimated costs for the provision of advice and representation in relation to defending a claim on behalf of an employer before the Employment Tribunal for unfair or wrongful dismissal. These prices are estimates only and are calculated on the basis of a standard claim, subject to certain assumptions (detailed below). We generally provide this service subject to fixed or capped costs. A comprehensive estimate, specific to your needs, can be obtained by contacting a member of the Employment Law team before instructing us to undertake any work on your behalf.

The profiles of the partners leading our our Employment Law team can be found here. Our team also includes a number of qualified solicitors, the majority of whom have over 7 years’ experience dealing with contentious and non-contentious employment law matters, including defending Employment Tribunal claims.

Our fees

The typical fees for our services in defending a standard claim for unfair or wrongful dismissal will be approximately £25,000 - £30,000, exclusive of VAT. This estimate would include the key stages of the matter set out below based on the assumptions listed.

The above estimate excludes other costs payable, such as disbursements (which may include barrister’s fees, travel expenses and bulk photocopying costs). We usually instruct a barrister to attend the full merits hearing and conduct the advocacy on behalf of clients. We estimate that the barrister’s fees for a standard unfair or wrongful dismissal claim will be approximately £3,000 - £7,000, exclusive of VAT.

Key stages and assumptions

In calculating this estimate, please note:

1. The estimated cost covers the following stages, which represent the whole lifecycle of the claim, from submission of the defence (ET3) through to the full merits hearing. This includes:

Preparation of the defence;
Risk and merits assessment;
Attendance (by telephone) of a case management discussion or preliminary hearing;
Document review and preparation of bundle;
Preparation of witness statements; and
Preparation for a full hearing.

2. The estimate is based on the following assumptions:

The claim is a straightforward wrongful or unfair dismissal claim.
There is only one preliminary hearing or case management discussion, and this takes place by telephone.
There are no more than 200 relevant documents to be reviewed.
The hearing bundle contains up to 100 documents.
The employer calls up to 3 witnesses.
Each witness statement is not more than 20 pages long.
The merits hearing goes on for no longer than 2 days.

Based on the assumptions set out above, we would estimate that the likely timescale for the key stages of an unfair or wrongful dismissal claim would be approximately 4 to 6 months from submission of the defence (ET3) through to the full merits hearing. However, timescales are dictated by the Courts and Tribunals Service which in turn will depend on resources and volumes of claims, and so cases can sometimes take longer to reach a full hearing.

The costs stated above may be affected and could increase if there is any change to any of the assumptions (for example where more than 3 witnesses are called, where the hearing goes beyond 2 days or where our attendance in person at any hearing is required).

8. Costs information for services to individuals in relation to the preparation and submission of immigration applications

We have set out below costs information for services to individuals in relation to the preparation and submission of immigration applications. The costs information includes a range of our professional services fees and, in addition to the range, for each type of application we have provided an illustrative example, to show how we work.

Professional fees may vary considerably between applications and we have included below an explanatory note of the factors that may influence our professional fees.

A comprehensive estimate, specific to your needs, can be obtained by contacting a member of the immigration team before instructing us to undertake any work on your behalf.

Our UK Immigration team is regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and is made up of experienced immigration consultants (with 2-5 years’ experience) and immigration managers (with 5-10 years’ experience). The profiles of the partners leading our UK Immigration team can be found here.

All professional fees detailed below exclude VAT at 20% and other disbursements. Government application fees do not attract VAT.

Standard scope of services

All of the illustrative examples below are based on the following scope of services. EY’s standard scope of services covers the whole lifecycle of the application, from initial instruction through to submission of the application, including:

Provision of advice on the requirements associated with an immigration application and a list of supporting documents;
Full review of the client’s documents and information;
Compliance checks to ensure the client meets the immigration requirements;
Drafting the client’s application form on their behalf;
Booking and submission of the application online or by post, payment of Government application fees and provision of the application bundle including supporting documents and a cover letter;
Liaising with the authorities to arrange expedited treatment for the application, if applicable;
Verifying that the decision letter and visa/BRP have been issued correctly; and
Provision of initial post visa grant advice, if applicable.

Our fees

Tier 1 (Investor) Extension

EY Professional fees: Between £6,000 and £10,000