Business collaboration agreement

  • Provides key protections for your business
  • Minimises risk of disputes with your business partner
  • Quick and easy to complete

A business collaboration agreement is an agreement between two or more businesses that will be working together on a commercial project. It sets out the scope of their cooperation and the key commercial terms that have been agreed, including the parties’ obligations and responsibilities. It might also be referred to as a cooperation agreement, a collaboration contract or a project collaboration agreement.

It’s important to use proper legal contracts when you are collaborating with another business to ensure you are both clear about what has been agreed and to provide your business with key legal protections. This will help to make sure your project runs smoothly and may help to avoid the risk of disputes if things go wrong later down the line.

This template business collaboration agreement will help you to put in place a framework for your project collaboration and will ensure that you have key commercial terms in place.

This document is also available as part of our Business collaborations toolkit, which will take you through the process of entering into a business collaboration and provide guidance on protecting your position.

Q&A

  • When should I use this document?

    You should use this template collaboration agreement whenever you are thinking about collaborating on a project with another business.

    It will help you to set out the agreement that you have negotiated.

    It is suitable when you are collaborating with one other business and only where your collaboration is contractual. It is not appropriate if you and your collaborator will be jointly setting up a legal vehicle, such as a joint venture company, for your project.

  • What does this document cover?

    While the specific terms of your collaboration agreement will depend on the outcome of your commercial negotiations, this template agreement provides a framework, which is customisable to reflect the terms that you have agreed. It contains key provisions and protections for your business, including:

    • The purpose and objectives of the project;
    • Obligations and responsibilities;
    • Exclusivity;
    • How any income, costs and expenses will be apportioned;
    • Confidential information and data protection;
    • Intellectual property ownership; and
    • Termination provisions.

    It also contains appropriate wording to emphasise that your collaboration is not intended to be an unlimited partnership, which could have significant legal implications for you.

    Finally, you can customise this template agreement to include restrictions to protect your business eg to stop you from soliciting each other’s clients or staff, or prevent you from competing with the project itself.

    If you will be sharing any personal data with your collaborator, you may need a specific agreement in place to ensure that you comply with your data protection obligations. For full guidance, see our Q&A on Sharing personal data.

  • Why do I need this document?

    It’s recommended that you use a business collaboration agreement whenever you are thinking about collaborating on a project with another business. It will allow you to formalise your agreement and make sure you are both on the same page about what the scope of your cooperation is and what your various obligations are.

    This is important as it may prevent problems further down the line eg disputes over who owns intellectual property created, how any profits will be split and who is liable for what. It’s important for both you and your business partners to also understand how and when you can pull the plug if things aren’t working out, and how you can protect your business following termination of the agreement.

  • Where can I find out more?

    If you’re thinking about collaborating with another business and you’re not sure whether a contractual collaboration is the right legal form for you, see our Q&A on business collaborations.

    If you want to find out more about business collaboration agreements, including a detailed discussion of the key terms you should include, see our guidance on What to include in a business collaboration agreement.

    For guidance on the other documents you should use when you are collaborating with another business, see our Q&A on Documenting a contractual business collaboration. If you’re looking for a template non-disclosure agreement to protect you during negotiations, you can use our NDA. For a template letter of intent which you can use to form the basis of your negotiations before you enter into a legally binding contract, see this template letter of intent.

Related Toolkits

Business collaborations toolkit

This toolkit takes you through the process of entering a collaboration with another business, to work together on a commercial project. When you are collaborating with another business, proper legal contracts will ensure you are both clear about what has been agreed and to provide your business with key legal protections. This will help to make sure your project runs smoothly and may help to avoid the risk of disputes if things go wrong later down the line. This toolkit includes a letter of intent, a business collaboration agreement and a non-disclosure agreement, as well as guidance and checklists to help protect you at all stages of the process.
  • How-to guide: Business collaboration toolkit
  • Checklist - protecting business ideas before starting a collaboration
  • Non-disclosure agreement (NDA)
  • Letter of intent
  • Business collaboration agreement

Small claims toolkit

This small claims toolkit guides you through the right process to follow if you want to make a straightforward small claim against someone, and contains a pack of all of the template documents you are likely to need. Use the small claims process to get back money you are owed for amounts less than £10,000 (for example, if a supplier has not sent you the right goods or you have not received payment from a customer). Documents provided in this small claims toolkit include: letter before action (also known as a letter of claim), which must be sent to someone before you sue them to set out what you are claiming; witness statement, which provides a template for any witness statements you are providing to ensure they are legally compliant; and letter of non-attendance for small claims hearing (if you want the court to judge your case on paper evidence rather than you attending a hearing). By using this small claims toolkit you can avoid the need to use a lawyer and maximise your chances of getting back money you are owed. It helps you avoid common mistakes that can reduce your chance of a successful claim.
  • How-to guide: Small claims toolkit
  • Letter before action
  • Witness statement
  • Letter of non-attendance for small claims hearing

Redundancy toolkit

This redundancy toolkit guides you through the key steps you need to take to make an employee redundant, and provides a pack of the relevant template documents you are likely to need. You will find guidance and a pack of 9 supporting documents, including letters, notices and agendas, for each step of the redundancy process: Initial steps (considering alternatives and reasons for redundancies); Creating a redundancy pool, applying selection criteria and notifying employees; Carrying out a consultation process; and Making a final decision, calculating payments and terminating employment. It also includes a template letter to offer alternative employment to employees who are at risk of being made redundant. By using this redundancy toolkit, you will ensure that your redundancy process is fair and legally compliant, which reduces the chance of any employees suing you. The guidance in this redundancy toolkit also helps you to ensure you do not make redundancies in a discriminatory way. Use this redundancy toolkit to ensure you are legally compliant without the need for a lawyer.
  • How-to guide: Redundancy toolkit
  • Redundancy - Letter warning of proposed redundancies
  • Redundancy - Selection criteria form
  • Redundancy - Provisional selection for redundancy letter
  • Redundancy - First individual consultation meeting agenda
  • Redundancy - Outcome of individual consultation meeting
  • Redundancy - Invitation to final individual consultation meeting
  • Redundancy - Final individual consultation meeting agenda
  • Redundancy - Notice of termination of employment
  • Redundancy - Offer of alternative employment

Starting an online business toolkit

This toolkit to start an online business includes all the legal documentation and know-how you need to set up a website and change your business to online sales. It comprises 9 key documents, including: separate cookie and privacy policies, and terms of use for your website; a customisable set of terms and conditions to cover you for the supply or goods or services or both; template invoices (VAT and non-VAT) and cancellation form; and a quick guide to customer rights, which are much broader for online sales than face-to-face transactions. Our helpful how-to guide will take you step-by-step through how to use the documents included in this pack, whether you are starting a new business or changing an existing business model to set up your own website and start selling online. Note that if you provide online services in the EEA, you will also need to ensure that you follow the rules of each EEA country you operate in. If you are not sure how this applies to you, you can access a specialist lawyer in a few simple steps using our Ask a Lawyer service.
  • How-to guide: Starting an online business toolkit
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookie policy
  • Website terms of use
  • Terms and conditions
  • Cancellation form
  • VAT invoice
  • Non-VAT invoice
  • Quick guide to customer rights in online sales
  • Checklist of information to include to ensure your website is legally compliant