Clive Vergnaud

Clive is a Consultant in Stone King’s Charity & Social Enterprise team, advising charities, social enterprises, purpose-led businesses and philanthropists on a wide range of issues. He is a member of Stone King’s specialist Social Finance and International & Cross-Border teams, and a member of the Charity Law Association.

Clive also helps organise the Young Charity Professionals Group, an initiative aimed at bringing together the future leaders of the charity sector, which was founded by Stone King and three other leading professional services providers.

Prior to joining the firm, Clive worked in-house for a public-private Swiss-law foundation established by the World Health Organisation to develop innovative financing solutions for global health issues.

Professional Experience

Charity & Social Enterprise

Clive advises charities, social enterprises, purpose-led businesses, sports clubs and philanthropists on a wide range of issues, including:

• formation and registration;
• establishing and adapting group structures;
• changes of legal form (incorporations and conversions from or into charitable incorporated organisations, community interest companies and community benefit societies);
• collaborations and mergers;
• fundraising (including working with professional fundraisers, establishing commercial partnerships and accessing social finance);
• constitutional reviews, applications to the Charity Commission, and other constitutional and regulatory matters.;

Clive regularly speaks about social enterprise legal structures, fundraising and social investment, and the duties of charity trustees and directors of social enterprises.

Social Finance

A key component of Clive’s work is with organisations looking to tap into the opportunities that exist for accessing repayable impact finance. Impact finance is finance provided to charities, social enterprises and social businesses with the aim of generating a positive social or environmental impact alongside a financial return. Impact finance can be structured in any variety of ways and legal advisers, investors and intermediaries have a vital role to play in growing the sector and helping purpose-led organisations access this type of funding. Too often, good ideas are abandoned because of the perceived complexities in funding and implementation. At Stone King, the oft-repeated phrase is “structure follows purpose” – get your business plan and funding in place and we can help you structure it in the way that is best for you.

Academic Experience

Clive is English-French bilingual. He read law at University College London and Université Paris II Panthéon-Assas, and completed his Legal Practice Course at the University of Law (London Bloomsbury).

Interests

In his free time Clive coaches the University of London Ice-Hockey Club’s 1st team, having played the sport competitively from a young age. A keen skier, he spends the winter months looking forward to his next snow fix – and the summer months looking forward to the winter months!

Case studies / Accomplishments

• Lead adviser on the merger of three performing arts charities to form one of the largest cross-arts organisations outside London.
• Advising a major grant funder in relation to the acquisition of collections of significant important to the national cultural heritage which were at risk of dispersal to private collectors, enabling them to be retained for the enjoyment of the British public.
• Guiding a major regional homelessness charity with a significant property portfolio though its conversion from a registered society and exempt charity to a charitable company registered with the Charity Commission.
• Advising a UK charity on making social investments into a US-based investment vehicle funding media-based educational development activities aimed at children and young people in East Africa.
• Redrafting the Royal Charters and By-laws of seventeenth-century charitable institutions to reflect modern law and best-practice while retaining historical language and/or characteristics, and securing the approval of the Privy Council to Royal Charter and By-law amendments.