Education: Institutions (Higher & Further Education)

Spread across our offices nationwide, (Bath, Birmingham, Cambridge, Leeds, London and Manchester) our team of specialist lawyers offer support with the strength that comes from being part of a firm rated in the Top 200 by The Lawyer, consistently named a Best Law Firm by the Times and top-ranked by Chambers and Legal 500.

Our practice includes:

• Supporting colleges in both positive and challenging situations
• Helping with key stakeholder communications and conducting negotiations, including the ESFA at local and national levels, the OfS, Ofqual and Awarding Bodies
• Negotiating funding arrangements, for example with DfE, local enterprise partnerships and banks
• Student related issues
• Shared and managed services
• Collaboration/joint venture arrangements, social enterprise initiatives and place-based solutions
• Mergers
• Commercial contracts - e.g. with suppliers and employers
• Education contracts - e.g. apprenticeships and subcontracted provision
• Procurement
• State Aid
• Employment law
• HR advice
• Immigration advice
• Equality and diversity advice
• Estates issues - land sales, purchases, taking and granting leases, estate management
• Construction and facilities management
• Information law (data protection and freedom of information)
• Project management
• Innovative cost effective packaged services, including: - governance support - information law - employment law and HR retainer - legal retainer