Your Nominated Adviser (Nomad), broker and other advisers will play a central role in your company's admission to AIM.  This makes it vital that you choose your advisers carefully.  You will all be working very closely together over a period of several months, so it's important that you are happy with your choices and feel confident that your relationship is strong right from the start.

Here are some useful questions to ask yourself when choosing your advisers:

——Do they understand my business?

——Do they have experience with companies in the same sector?

——Do they share my vision for the company and understand where I want to take it? 

Who are Nominated Advisers and what do they do?

All Nomads must be approved by the London Stock Exchange. To be authorised to act as Nomads, they must show us that they have the experience and ability to assess whether a company is suitable and ready for admission to the AIM, and to act as that company’s formal 'mentor' once it has been admitted to the market.

Your Nomad might be an independent corporate finance firm, an accountant or a broker. The Nomad will:

——undertake extensive due diligence to ensure your company is suitable for AIM

——guide you through the flotation process

——administer your admission documents and financial statements

——act as your 'referee' throughout your time on AIM

Along with your company’s directors, your Nomad is responsible for ensuring that your business adheres correctly to AIM's rules and regulations. Its role also includes keeping you abreast of AIM Notices and rule revisions, and making sure you honour the continuing obligations of being a public company once your business is on the market.

As an AIM company, you will be obliged to retain a Nomad throughout your time on the market.

Who are Brokers and what do they do?

A broker is a securities house and a member of the London Stock Exchange. If your broker happens to be the same firm as your Nomad, then we apply strict regulations to prevent any conflict of professional interest from arising between the two advisory services.

The broker's role is to:

——Provide advice to you on market- and trading-related issues 

——Assess the level of investor interest in your shares, both as you prepare to float and in the run-up to any subsequent follow-on issues

——Advise on the pricing of shares and investment issues

You must have a broker to ensure that there is a sustainable market in your company's shares

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