Hired and burnt around the edges (9)
I believe the answer is:
chartered
'hired' is the definition.
(I know that hired can be written as chartered)
'burnt around the edges' is the wordplay.
'burnt' becomes 'charred' (charring is a kind of burning).
'around' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'edges' says to hollow out the word (remove centre letters) (I've seen 'edging' mean this (edging means the letters on the edges)).
'the' with its middle taken out is 'te'.
'charred' going around 'te' is 'CHARTERED'.
'and' is the link.
(Other definitions for chartered that I've seen before include "Hired privately" , "Leased" , "Professionally qualified - not scheduled" , "Hired, a boat perhaps, for exclusive use" , "Engaged" .)