Mmmm. In the classification system described in
On the Getting of Agents, the Novel Literary Agency falls into the "gormless" category. They probably mean well, but they have no idea what they're doing, and thus can't help you.
The charging of an upfront fee lifts them out of the gormless and into the 'scam' category, I fear. Yog's Law would demand we do the running away routine and fast.
the fee - although certain to be blasted by the group - is not the kind of fee a scammer goes after....
No, it's not - it's higher. It's more than the WLA try for (charging for useless critiques), and a lot more than the late and unlamented Hill and Hill (a mere £80 upfront and £120 a year thereafter). Legitimate agents do not charge upfront fees at all - and NLA wouldn't need very many sheep to make a handsome annual income out of shearing at this level.
I don't hold the 'no guarantee of publication' against them - as others have said, no-one can guarantee this. Everything else on the site, however, screams 'scam'. It's entirely aimed at prospective writing clients, rather than the people it should be selling to, ie editors, international buyers, people needing permissions or information etc - in just the same way as PA's site is aimed at prospective authors rather than book buyers.
So where do we think they're looking to make their money? Oh, I wonder...