One-page context for advisers. Preparatory material — not legal advice. UK launch scope only; US plans and the future "find clients" marketplace add-on are deliberately excluded from this document. Supersedes the marketplace overview (
uk-business-overview.md) for the current direction. Last updated: [PLACEHOLDER: date]
What Faresay is
Faresay is a B2B SaaS "practice portal" — software that UK therapists subscribe to in order to run their own private practice. The platform gives the therapist the tools to manage their own clients, scheduling, secure video sessions, card payments, and appointment reminders, on web and phone. The therapist delivers the clinical work and owns the relationship; Faresay provides the software, nothing more.
- What it is: practice-management software sold to independent UK therapists to run their own private practice.
- What it is not: not a two-sided marketplace; not a healthcare provider; not a care intermediary arranging or matching care; not an employer of the therapists; not a crisis service; and not the data controller of the clinical record (the therapist is).
How it works
- A therapist subscribes to Faresay (a monthly SaaS plan).
- The therapist adds their own clients and manages their own diary, notes, and reminders.
- Therapist and client meet over secure video booked through the portal.
- Clients pay the therapist by card through the platform (via Stripe); the therapist sets their own fee and keeps it.
Faresay is the toolset behind all of this. Clinical responsibility, crisis and safeguarding, and the client relationship sit with the therapist, who is the practitioner and the controller of the clinical record.
Who the customer is
The customer is the therapist — a business or sole trader — not the client. Therapists are independent, UK-registered mental-health professionals (e.g. BACP / UKCP / NCS / BPS, or statutory registration where relevant) who carry their own professional indemnity insurance. Faresay verifies their registration before the account goes live. The therapist's clients are the therapist's own clients throughout.
Revenue model (directional)
Revenue is a monthly subscription fee paid by the therapist, plus a small commission on card payments processed through the platform. To be explicit: this is a recurring software subscription, not a 15% marketplace fee — Faresay does not take a share of the clinician's professional fee in the old marketplace sense. The commission covers the cost and convenience of in-platform card processing only.
| Item | Value | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription tiers | ~Free / £29 / £79 per month | Directional / launch pricing — [PLACEHOLDER: confirm pricing] |
| Payment commission | Small % of card payments | Via Stripe; not a fee-split of the professional fee |
| Customer | The therapist (business / sole trader) | Not the client |
| Therapist status | Independent, self-employed | Not employed by Faresay |
| Stage | Pre-launch (UK) | [PLACEHOLDER: confirm entity] — Companies House + counsel in progress |
Data-protection posture (one line)
The therapist is the data controller of their clients' (special-category, mental-health) data; Faresay is a data processor acting on the therapist's documented instructions, which requires an Article 28 Data Processing Agreement (DPA) with every therapist.
The single biggest legal dependency
Confirming the processor characterisation and getting a signable Article 28 DPA in place with
every therapist — this is what lets Faresay process real client data lawfully and what keeps clinical
and controller responsibility with the therapist. See pp-uk-legal-brief.md for the specific
questions to put to counsel.