Finance & Banking

Commercial. Pragmatic. Personal. That’s our advice in a nutshell.

We are a leading advisor on impact investment. Helping clients to generate positive social and environmental impacts and sustainable financial returns is at the core of our practice, both across the UK and throughout the emerging markets, particularly in the Global South.

We advise and are panel lawyers for, amongst others, Triodos Bank, Santander, Lloyds Bank, The Charity Bank, Metro Bank, Handelsbanken, and Unity Trust Bank in respect of their lending to the charity and not for profit sector.

In addition to advising banks and specialist lenders, we also support our corporate clients on secured and unsecured borrowing transactions.

But it isn’t simply the depth of our experience that sets us apart, it’s our personal approach. We build relationships and offer solutions.

How we help

We offer specialist support in structured and general corporate banking, social finance, acquisition finance, real estate finance and asset-based lending. We tailor our advice to each client’s needs – bringing in support from specialist teams across our firm to ensure you receive the best possible advice.

We advise borrowers and lenders across a wide range of sectors on syndicated and bilateral lending, invoice discounting arrangements, cross border structures, security and intercreditor issues.

As a long term member of the Loan Market Association we understand the leveraged finance market, the changes within it and the documentation which supports it.

In the field of impact investment and development finance, we help private and development equity funds, foundations, government-backed development finance institutions, MFIs and other impact investors, as well as international NGOs and development organisations to achieve their sustainable and financial goals.

We have a detailed understanding of the funding and structural needs of our charity and not-for-profit clients. We also advise the country’s leading lenders to the charity and not-for-profit sector. Like our clients Charity Bank and Triodos, we’re a B Corp, so we understand what it means to be values-driven.

In addition to advising on lending and borrowing we also advise insolvency practitioners, banks, institutional investors, asset-based lenders, LPA receivers, corporate entities and company directors on insolvency law.

We also have outsourced arrangements with specialists who can provide regulatory advice for financial firms.

Explore

Fuelling positive change: NCVO launches new campaign encouraging charities to divest from fossil fuels

NCVO has launched a campaign encouraging charities to ‘consider moving investments away from businesses involved in the extraction, production, transportation, …
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Bates Wells advises Ripple Energy on £20m co-operative share raise

Bates Wells has advised on the £20m co-operative share offer to fund Ripple Energy’s third project. The transaction is likely …
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Joe Whitfield joins Bates Wells as new Head of Development Finance

At Bates Wells, for over two decades, we’ve been helping clients in the UK to make (and raise) investments which …
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Be a better business: Download our services guide for certified and aspiring B Corps

Are you on the journey towards empowering your organisation to do business in a way that is values-driven, as well …
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Bates Wells Impact Report 2022

It’s been another busy year at Bates Wells and we continue to live through interesting times. Martin Bunch, our Managing …
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Meet our team