One side, named
A consultant acts for one party in a deal and the engagement letter names which. No consultant acts for both the seller and the buyer in the same transaction, in any capacity, whatever the fee arrangement.
Accreditation
Standards
Version 1.2. Dated 27 September 2026.
Every consultant who works on a Proxeno engagement is admitted against these standards and held to them afterwards. They are published for two reasons: so a practice owner can check what the person in front of them is bound by, and so a consultant knows exactly what they are agreeing to.
The twelve standards
Operational scope
A consultant's work is operational: systems, staffing, rosters, patient numbers, reporting, accreditation and documentation. Financial matters go to the owner's accountant, contracts and legal questions to their lawyer. A consultant does not give advice they are not qualified or licensed to give.
No consultant values a practice
Where a valuation is needed it comes from an independent valuer engaged by the owner, with no commercial relationship with Proxeno or the consultant. No consultant produces a figure for the owner to rely on.
The parties negotiate, not the consultant
A consultant prepares the owner, briefs them and works through offers with them. The owner and the buyer agree terms directly. A consultant does not negotiate on either party's behalf.
Fees are fixed and disclosed before work starts
Every fee is agreed before any work begins, and no consultant fee is a percentage of the sale price or of the practice's income. A consultant takes no fee or benefit from anyone other than the party they are engaged by, and discloses any conflicting interest before the engagement starts.
Confidentiality
No practice is identified to any buyer, and no practice information is released, without the owner's written instruction. Practices are never listed, advertised or circulated. Documents move only through the channels named in the engagement, never to a consultant's personal address or devices.
Readiness first
No engagement proceeds toward buyers before the sale readiness check and the intake are complete. A consultant does not take an owner to market on the strength of a conversation.
Responsiveness
A consultant responds to an owner's first approach within one business day, and to questions during an engagement within two. Where they cannot, they say so and say when they will.
Inside the process
Engagements take place inside the Proxeno process and are recorded in it as they progress. Work done outside it is not a Proxeno engagement and is not covered by these standards.
Reporting
After every engagement the consultant provides the outcome data the process requires, whether the sale completed or not.
Admission
Consultants are admitted on relevant experience in general practice operations, professional services or advisory work, after training on the process, and their first engagement is supervised.
The owner is our client
Owners who come to Proxeno are Proxeno's clients. A consultant is allocated to an engagement and the relationship does not transfer to them, and they do not take the owner on as a client of their own consultancy, during or after the engagement.
How this is checked
Every engagement is measured on time to first response, owner satisfaction, whether the engagement progressed through the stages, whether the process was followed and whether the reporting came back complete. Reviewed quarterly.
What happens if a standard is not met
A consultant who falls short is allocated less work, or none, while it is addressed. Membership is withdrawn for conduct rather than for performance: a breach of the one-side rule, of confidentiality, or of the fee disclosure rule.
If you have a complaint
If you believe a consultant has not met these standards, tell us. Complaints go to the address in the engagement letter, or to complaints@proxeno.io.
We acknowledge a complaint within one business day, look into it, and tell you what we found and what we have done about it. Every complaint is recorded and every one is read at the quarterly review, including the ones we did not uphold.
Changes to this standard
Standards are versioned. When one changes, the version number and date change with it, and the previous version stays available. Consultants are held to the version in force when their engagement began.
Version 1.2, 27 September 2026. Superseded: version 1.1, 26 July 2026.