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Purpose & Impact: your round-up | July

Welcome to your round-up: a monthly selection of news hand-picked to help keep you up to date, for businesses, investors and others working to create positive impact. Jump to: Corporate purpose B Corps Social enterprise Sustainable fashion Climate & biodiversity Sustainable supply chains Impact investing Corporate purpose The Cabinet Office is seeking expressions of interest …
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Getting your club ready for the IFR licensing regime: Key takeaways and next steps

Following our recent webinar on the Independent Football Regulator’s licensing regime, this article summarises the critical points that English men’s football clubs in the top five tiers need to understand and act upon now. Where we stand The IFR has completed its second consultation on the licensing regime with no fundamental changes to the proposed …
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Briefing for Charities & Social Enterprises | 21 July

Our weekly round-up of news and updates from across the sector. To help you navigate this week’s content, the links below will take you straight to content by topic. Charity Commission The Committee of Privileges has published a report considering the actions of the Charity Commission in relation to parliamentary privilege and two reports laid …
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EHRC Code of Practice coming into force on Wednesday 5 August

The new EHRC Code of Practice for services, public functions and associations comes into force on Wednesday 5 August. This updated Services Code will provide guidance on the application of the Equality Act 2010 in light of the Supreme Court’s landmark judgment For Women Scotland, which courts and tribunals must take into account when deciding claims …
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AI Impact: How should purpose-driven businesses consider the impact of their AI usage?

We regularly bring together people from across the impact space, including investors, B Corps, social enterprises, foundations and ecosystem support organisations, to discuss key themes of purpose-beyond-profit. At a recent roundtable, we explored how purpose-driven businesses can understand the risks and impacts of AI, and how in-house legal teams can develop strategies to support responsible …
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Panel event: The Economics of Circularity – Fashioning Sustainability for Business Longevity

As part of London Climate Action Week, Bates Wells, in partnership with DEPLOY – the highest scoring fashion B corp globally, convened a panel exploring one of the fashion industry’s most pressing challenges: how to turn circularity from ambition into commercially viable reality.The panel reflected a breadth of expertise across the value chain. Together, they …
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Corporate foundations and their connected businesses: Key insights from our roundtable

We were delighted to welcome representatives from a variety of corporate foundations to our roundtable on 30 June. The event brought together a wealth of different experiences and provided an opportunity for peer learning and the sharing of practical insights. Legal principles Bates Wells partners, Philip Kirkpatrick and Lucy Rhodes, opened the roundtable with an …
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EPC reform: raising the bar – big changes ahead for landlords and tenants

Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) are a familiar part of the UK property landscape, rating buildings from A (most efficient) to G (least efficient). They are required when properties are built, sold or let, and form the basis of the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES). For landlords, a property must have a minimum EPC rating of …
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Faith-based charities and regulatory engagement: prevention and response

The regulatory landscape Regulatory action by the Charity Commission is increasing. There were 18% more regulatory concern cases, 25% more statutory inquiries and just under 60% more inquiry powers used in the Commission’s most recent financial period than its previous one. Common themes for the Commission opening investigations are governance failures, safeguarding issues, conflicts of …
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Briefing for Charities & Social Enterprises | 14 July

Our weekly roundup of news and updates from across the sector. To help you navigate this week’s content, the links below will take you straight to content by topic. Charity Commission Annual report and accounts The Charity Commission has published its annual report and accounts for 2025 to 2026. In his foreword, Chief Executive Officer …
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Innovate for Impact: Managing IT supplier relationships: Risks, red flags and reducing the impact of disputes

What makes an IT supplier relationship succeed – or fail? At our recent event, Innovate for Impact: Empowering Charities through Technology, panellists explored the challenges organisations face when delivering technology projects and managing relationships with IT suppliers. While the projects discussed varied widely, a number of recurring themes emerged: misaligned expectations, underestimated complexity, supplier dependency …
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Innovate for Impact: How technology can empower charities to drive positive change

At our recent Innovate for Impact: Empowering Charities Through Technology event, panellists discussed how charities are using technology in practice to improve services, better understand the needs of their communities and support their wider objectives. The discussion explored both the opportunities and challenges presented by new technologies, with speakers drawing on their own experiences of …
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