Ben Cooke

Partner, Co-head of FMCG, Commercial
Manchester, UK

Expertise

Ben is a highly experienced commercial lawyer with a focus on the sports sector, advising football clubs, associations, and sporting organisations on complex commercial arrangements, including event hire, sponsorship, partnerships, merchandising and F&B. . He works closely with in-house legal teams, commercial functions and at Board level to deliver pragmatic, succinct, and commercially minded advice.

Ben also advises clients across the retail and consumer sectors, covering procurement, logistics, agency/distribution, facilities management, manufacturing, supply chain, and outsourcing arrangements. He has significant experience on commercial matters in the context of corporate transactions.

He is recognised in Legal 500, with clients praising him for:

“The quality of his advice being consistently impressive, managing to balance a deep understanding of the law with a healthy and sensible commerciality.”

Experience

Sports Sector

Lead legal adviser on the UK's bid for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2035.
Currently advises a number of Premier League football clubs on a range of commercial arrangements including event hire, F&B, sponsorship, e-commerce and retail contracts.
Supporting a globally recognised sports team on the outsourcing of its e-commerce platform.
Advising sports organisation on sponsorship agreements, merchandising arrangements, and event commercialisation.

Retail & Consumer Sector

Advising a snacks brand on a 10-year outsourcing of logistics and warehousing to a leading global logistics provider.
Advising a consumer brand on the outsourcing of facilities management across multiple global sites.
Supporting a UK supermarket on a range of food manufacturing supply contracts.
Advising a UK retailer on implementing multiple concession arrangements across a 150-store estate.

Education