About Our Team

Andrew Talbot

Managing Partner

Andrew is a specialist in partnership working, collaborations, charity mergers and governance. He provides independent honest-broker support to collaborations and partnerships between charities, social enterprises and statutory organisations:

• building strategic alliances;
• developing effective consortia; and
• leading successful mergers and charity restructurings.

As Legal Adviser for CollaborationNI from 2011 until March 2017, he developed over 150 collaborations and partnerships. Funded by the Building Change Trust, CollaborationNI was itself a consortium between NICVA, CO3 and Stellar Leadership.

He currently provides group coaching, project leadership, training, facilitation, governance, transaction and legal support to voluntary and community, social enterprise and statutory organisations.

Professional Experience

Andrew qualified as a solicitor in 2001 and is a member of the Law Society of Northern Ireland. He worked as a corporate/commercial and charity solicitor in leading Corporate Law firms in both Newcastle-Upon-Tyne and in Belfast before specialising in his real passion – which is to provide specialist support to the voluntary and community and social enterprise sector.

Whilst working in NICVA, the umbrella body for the voluntary and community sector in Northern Ireland, from 2010 until April 2017, Andrew provided advice and support to charities on governance, charity law, partnerships and mergers.

Andrew is now a NICVA Associate and delivers support independently.

Board Experience

Since 2012, Andrew has been a Board Member of NOW Group, a charity which provides training and employment opportunities to people with learning difficulties.

He has also been a Board Member of the Northern Ireland Hospice since 2015.

Recent Experience:

As Legal Adviser with CollaborationNI, Andrew has provided leadership, support, guidance, advice and training to over 1,000 voluntary, community, statutory and social economy organisations.

For example:

• the successful formation by 20 leading charities of the Newry, Mourne and Down Strategic Stakeholder Forum which is now the key mechanism for the third sector to engage in community planning in the Newry Mourne and Down Council area.
• the development of the Human Rights Partnership, a consortium of four of the main human rights charities in Northern Ireland, the Human Rights Consortium, Public Interest Litigation Support, Participation and Practice of Rights project and the Committee on the Administration of Justice.
• the project to transfer services from Orana Family Centre in Newry to Early Years. This merger ensured that Orana’s services, which were threatened by loss of funding, were preserved for the future benefit of the Newry community.
• the successful merger of Newtownabbey Citizens Advice and Antrim Citizens Advice – and supported the development of numerous consortia between advice sector organisations across Northern Ireland.
• the formation of the Northern Ireland Alcohol and Drugs Association, an alliance of the main charities in Northern Ireland working to reduce the harm caused by drugs and alcohol.

In addition, Andrew has supported the development of over 100 other alliances, partnerships and mergers since 2011.

These include: Healthy Living Centres Alliance, Consumer Rights Initiative for NI, Sports Association Newry and Down, Northern Ireland Advice Services Consortium, CDM Community Transport merger, TheatreNI merger, Verve Neighbourhood Renewal Partnership, Together For You Improving Mental Well-Being for People in NI Partnership, Cancer Focus and Lilac Partnership, Rare Diseases Partnership and the Long Term Conditions Alliance.