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Expert corporate governance lawyers. We ensure compliance with your legal obligations while guiding you through key structural changes.
Talk to usOur experienced corporate, charity, housing and sports governance lawyers have successful track records in developing effective governance solutions for organisations of all types and sizes.
Running a business or a governing body is complex and involves making major decisions that change lives. That’s why it’s key to establish and implement rules that allow you to successfully manage your organisation.
We can help you to navigate through your existing governance structures and remain compliant with your constitutional, regulatory and statutory obligations.
As part of our extensive corporate law team — one of the largest and most active in the UK and recognised in the top tier of The Legal 500 2025 for corporate and commercial matters — we can support you with a wide range of key challenges including business planning and structuring, constitutional issues, reorganisations, refinancing, amalgamations, group structures, joint ventures and partnerships, in addition to providing general strategic advice.
We also offer expert company secretarial services to free-up your time to focus on the big issues. These include acting as registered office, handling company incorporations, filing documents at Companies House, maintaining statutory registers and other responsibilities and duties of directors.
For us, governance isn't just a periodic, box-ticking exercise. We bring the requisite experience and cross-fertilisation of ideas needed to make governance truly work for you and your organisation.
Talk to our corporate governance specialists today by calling 0333 004 4488, emailing hello@brabners.com or completing our contact form below.
Experienced governance lawyers
Our governance expertise is led by Partners Ruth Hargreaves, Graeme Hughes and Rupert Gill.
They work with businesses, governing bodies and charities of all types and sizes, including public and private companies, registered providers of social housing, community benefit societies, charities, sports national governing bodies (NGBs) and international federations (IFs), local sports clubs and professional practices as well as senior leaders including directors and shareholders.
Ruth leads our sports governance specialism through her extensive work with NGBs and IFs. For well over a decade, she’s acted as a trusted advisor on constitutional and corporate governance matters, as well as acquisitions, mergers, disposals and investments across the sport sector.
Graeme leads our charity team and has over 15 years’ experience in advising on the governance structures of charitable organisations of all types and sizes, including those that operate internationally.
Rupert leads our housing and communities sector team. Recognised as a Leading Partner by The Legal 500 2025, he advises registered providers on a wide range of corporate legal matters and provides specialist guidance on corporate governance, constitutional issues, changes to model rules and intra-group agreements.
Meet the team
A ‘Top Tier’ corporate governance law firm
The full spectrum of corporate governance services & solutions
In an evolving, increasingly-regulated environment, it can be difficult to stay on top of corporate governance — but not with the right people by your side.
Drawing on deep, real-world industry insights and commercial acumen, we’ll help you to stay compliant, resilient and well-structured through every stage of growth and change. We’ll find innovative, tailored solutions to your problems — maximising opportunities while minimising risk.
From routine to complex matters, we offer the full spectrum of governance, corporate law and secretary services, including:
- Business planning & structuring — constitutional advice, reorganisations, group and tax-efficient structures, board structuring, succession planning, joint ventures and partnerships.
- Company secretarial services — acting as company secretary or registered office, company incorporations and filings, maintaining statutory registers and shareholder records, preparing board and shareholder documents, advising on directors’ duties.
- Governance reviews & best practice — gap analysis and audits against regulatory codes, reviewing frameworks, policies and procedures, sector-specific compliance (e.g. sports, charities, housing), ESG and sustainability governance.
- Board & shareholder support — composition and appointments, shareholder agreements and disputes, governance training for directors and executives, crisis and risk management.
- Regulations & transactions — advice on constitutional or regulatory change, support on investments, refinancing and funding rounds, reporting and disclosure obligations.
Our approach to governance
We recognise the importance of tailored advice and best practice and are here to guide you along the journey towards effective governance.
Our approach is holistic — we always take time to understand the issues affecting your business or governing body and provide advice that’s both practical and commercial. Governance is meaningless unless it's done in a way that supports and benefits the business. There's no point in us writing the perfect policy if that policy isn't then used. In fact, having a governance structure that isn't followed is worse than not having one at all.
This ensures that you can operate in a way that’s both compliant and helps to achieve your goals. It also allows us to develop model documents that can be rolled out across a group of companies or — in the case of sporting governing bodies — the relevant clubs and local associations.
Examples of our clients include:
- Housing associations — for which we undertake governance reviews to support their obligation to achieve a certain rating by their Regulator.
- NGBs — where we've helped to support their compliance with the Code for Sport Governance.
- County golf associations — that might be incorporating to benefit from limited liability or merging men's and ladies' sections.
- AIM-listed companies — such as NWF Group plc and large family businesses that wish to maintain a tight shareholding structure, particularly in light of changes to the inheritance tax regime.
“Brabners draws considerable praise from clients for its ‘focused and commercial’ approach. The team is well-positioned to advise on the full scope of corporate and commercial work, including M&A, group organisations, private equity, contracts, e-commerce and data protections matters.”
The Legal 500 2025
“Graeme Hughes competently advises on charity law, governance and regulatory issues, as well as overseeing matters requiring insights from his corporate, property and employment colleagues.”
The Legal 500, 2024
Corporate law & governance expert insights
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