Social Enterprise

We support social enterprises – both as advisors and as advocates for the movement.

We’re a rare mix of social enterprise lawyers and sector-leading financing, investment and impact advisers. Together, we give social enterprises the best start from day one. We help them set up governing documents in line with their values, arrange loans and approach investors. As a full service law firm we can produce people-friendly employment contracts and supplier agreements that drive sustainability, alongside providing day to day help with IP, disputes, real estate and more.

How we help

We’re here for every business with a social purpose. Over the decades, we’ve helped countless social enterprises get started, including Charity Bank and Big Society Capital.

We’ve also championed policies that make doing business easier for social enterprises everywhere. We worked with government to introduce the CIC (Community Interest Company) model and made the case for social investment tax relief.

We also helped to create Purposely, a free government-backed digital tool that helps businesses to simply embed purpose.

Explore

Creating a ‘Speak Up’ culture in purpose-driven businesses: The benefits of an effective whistleblowing framework

Bates Wells convenes the Impact Counsels’ Forum, a space for senior counsel working within impact investors, B Corps, and other purpose-driven businesses. The forum discusses the ‘impact angles’ on legal and practical issues faced by in-house legal teams. Recently, the forum explored the benefits an effective whistleblowing framework and how that can support an open …
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Briefing for Charities & Social Enterprises | 11 June

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 We reported a few weeks ago that the Charity Commission’s guidance CC30, Finding and appointing new trustees, has been updated. We’ve reviewed the …
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Using the law to create change – a new guide for charities and campaigning groups

In partnership with NEON, this new guide explains how your organisation can use the law to create meaningful change. Legal action is rarely enough to drive systemic change on its own, but the law can be a powerful tool for purpose-driven organisations, especially when combined with other tactics within a broader campaign strategy. The guide …
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Purpose & Impact: your roundup | June

Welcome to your roundup – a monthly selection of news hand-picked to keep you up to date with what’s going on for businesses and investors working to create positive impact. In this roundup you can find out what’s new in the B Corp, social enterprise, and impact investing spaces, amongst others, collated under helpful headings. …
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The Procurement Act 2023: new regime goes live

The Procurement Act 2023 is now in force. Explore our Procurement teams’ top takeaways on the Government’s strategic priorities following publication of the new National Procurement Policy Statement. On 13 February 2025, the Cabinet Office published the long-awaited National Procurement Policy Statement (NPPS), reinvigorating a focus on public bodies using procurement to achieve public benefit. …
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Meet our team