Legal Structures


Social Enterprise Legal Structures Training and Consultancy

 

Legal Structures training day

This training day is designed for pre-start and new start social enterprises or for voluntary and community sector organisations considering the establishment of a social enterprise.

"How will your social enterprise be organised?"
"Who will take part in key decisions?"
"How will it be financed? "
"What is an asset lock and how can we get one?"
"What is the difference between a CIC, an Industrial & Provident Society and an association?"
If you are establishing a social enterprise you will want to have the right legal structure to achieve your mission, protect you and your members from unnecessary risks, meet your financing needs, ensure the right levels of participation in governance, and ensure the great work it does carries on in the future when you leave.
This training day looks at the key elements you need to understand when choosing a legal structure so you can get the right one.

Aim:
To enable participants to:
  • understand the broad range of social enterprise types in the UK
  • identify their preferred legal structure for their business plan
  • explain to a support provider what they require from their legal structure
Learning outcomes

By the end of the session participants will be able to:
  • Explain the reasons why social enterprises adopt legal structures including the need for limited liability 
  • Identify a legal structure or structures that may be appropriate for their social enterprise
  • List the issues they need to clarify before choosing their structure
  • Explain the features they need from a legal form to meet their specific organisational requirements
  • If they have a legal structure, appraise how they might improve it
Existing/past customers include: Olmec

This training day can be delivered to up to 15 participants for a fixed fee.

Also available:One-to-one support to identify appropriate organisational and legal structures for social enterprises, co-operatives and mutuals.

Consultancy support

CIC, Company Limited by Guarantee, Community Benefit Society, Co-operative?  Don't pick a one-size-fits-all solution from the shelf!  When you consider that a legal structure will be used by your enterprise every day for 20 years – or even 200 – investment in an appropriate legal vehicle is money well spent.  And with a vast array of structures available, and amendments to Rules or Articles to change the way they behave, it is easy to pick one that doesn't quite work!
When helping clients decide from the range of legal structures available to a social enterprise, co-operative or mutual I help them take into account
  • social purpose of the organisation
  • trading activity
  • business model
  • organisational form
  • stakeholder involvement
  • governance and management requirements
  • financial requirements
  • potential sources of finance
  • profit distribution requirements
  • safeguarding assets
  • regulatory requirements
 This is based on:
  • Working knowledge of the available range of legal structures 
  •  Experience of working with hundreds of social enterprises, co-operatives, mutuals and third sector organisations 
  •  Providing assistance to enterprises to unpick the mess caused by the wrong structure
  • Hands on experience as a Director/Management Committee member of Companies, Community Interest Company, Industrial & Provident Societies, Credit Union etc.
  • Level 5 Certificate in Social Enterprise Support (Institute of Leadership & Management)
Please feel free to contact me to discuss nathanbsocialenterprise [at] gmail.com

1 comment:

  1. I am not sure if my last comment got through; forgive me if it did. I am in the very early stages of creating/researching setting up an Artists Co-operative. I would be interested in joining your course; although I realise it has already started. Is it possible for me to join it now or will there be further courses? I live in the South West but would be prepared to travel to Eastleigh

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