Ben Brice

Legal Director
Contact details

01865 258 054

Ben Brice was really good to deal with. Very approachable.

Legal 500, 2022

Ben acts for charities and not-for-profits across England & Wales, advising on charity law, governance and related regulatory and commercial issues.

Main areas of practice

Ben has extensive experience assisting charities navigate governance, constitutional, regulatory and associated commercial matters in the context of developing charity and company legislation and in the face of the increasingly tight regulation.

Ben advises on a wide range of charity law issues including charity formation, registration and incorporation, joint ventures, commercial participation agreements, brand protection and intellectual property licensing, data protection, and contract drafting and negotiation.  Ben is well versed in dealing with relevant regulators, including the Charity Commission and the Privy Council, and providing practical and pragmatic advice where it is needed.

Clients

Ben’s clients include charities, schools, academies, universities, colleges, social housing providers and other not-for-profit organisations and social enterprises throughout England & Wales.

Expertise

Career

  • Graduated with LLB in Law from University of Bristol in 1997.
  • Diploma in Legal Practice from University of West of England in 1998.
  • Qualified as a Solicitor in 2000 from Crockers Oswald Hickson.
  • Various commercial in-house roles, involving IP licensing, between 2000 and 2006.
  • Charities team at Bircham Dyson Bell LLP between 2006 and 2017.
  • Joined Blake Morgan in June 2017.
Contact details

01865 258 054

Accreditations

Significant Experience

  • Advising charity trustees and liaising with the Charity Commission regarding the transfer of charity assets to a not-for-profit organisation, which was not itself a registered charity, and which would result in the transferring charity's dissolution, in a manner which was in compliance with charity law.
  • Establishing a charity to assume responsibility for management and operation of local authority’s sports and leisure facilities, and negotiating contractual arrangements whereby charity was able to provide services to the council, leasing the properties necessary to do so, and with ability to subcontract aspects of the work to ensure VAT efficient transfer of the undertaking.
  • Advising a registered charity regarding the provision of loan funding in the form of a program related investment facility to its subsidiary for the purposes of financing the design and build of a social housing development.
  • Advising a charity on the benefits and disadvantages of proposed options for collaboration and/or merger with larger umbrella charity. Advice provided in context of ensuring client's retention of identity and control over its funds and effecting changes to its Royal Charter constitution with the Privy Council.
  • Experienced in establishing and registering charities of all natures (including companies limited by guarantee, CIOs, trusts and royal charter companies), incorporating unincorporated associations and negotiating constitutional amendments with the Charity Commission and other regulators as necessary.

Additional Expertise

Education:  As part of Blake Morgan’s Education team, Ben advises on academy conversions and formations (including sixth form academies), school mergers, and provides governance advice to these and other educational charities, including universities and colleges.

Training/Seminars:  Ben provides tailored trustee training to clients and presents at conferences and seminars (in-house and externally).

Quotes


Ben Brice is very responsive and his knowledge of this specialist sector is second to none. His advice was very clearly given and the options, where applicable, were similarly clarified.

Legal 500, 2020

At Blake Morgan LLP, practice head Ben Brice has significant expertise advising charities and NFP organisations on mergers and partnering arrangements, joint ventures, social enterprise, income generation, governance and regulatory matters.

Legal 500, 2020

Insights by Ben


events

19 October - Ben Brice

Blake Morgan, Critchleys and Cazenove Capital hosted a Charity Trustee Training session on Monday, 27 November at Saïd Business School in Oxford.

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events

21 September - Ben Brice

Our next Public Sector Insights webinar on Tuesday 10 October 2023 focused on Mental Health & Mental Capacity Matters.

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events

22 June - Ben Brice

Our Public Sector Network event on 19 July 2023 focused on the charities sector.

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