Many schools form key components of their community and to that end, often run activities other than just the running of the school itself. This may be for one or more of the following reasons:
To raise additional income for the benefit of the school
Because there is a contractual obligation on the school to for example, make a leisure facility available for community use outside of school hours
To 'plug the gap' for a service required in the community such as a children's centre or the provision of education training to parents
We see schools carrying out a wide range of trading activities from the operation of leisure facilities, children's centres, private nurseries and the day to day lettings of facilities. Whatever the scale of your trading you will want to find the right balance between risk and reward and find a safe route through the legal and tax minefield.
We understand that you are looking for simple solutions to manage your trading activities to maximise profit and minimise risk within the legal and tax framework. We can work with you to assess your current and future activities to see whether a trading subsidiary is or may be necessary and what restrictions the school might have, for example under the terms of an academy funding agreement. We can also look at existing structures to see if they work for you.
Where a subsidiary is needed or you already have one in place, we can support you in managing your school or academy trust's relationship with it in accordance with the law and best practice. We can also work with you (and your accountants) to ensure that your arrangements are as tax efficient as possible and ensure you have appropriate contractual relations with third parties.
Technically impressive and good at providing practical advice in plain English.
We provide academies with experienced education lawyers who are always on hand to give practical solutions to problems and the confidence to react positively to opportunities.
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