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Alexander is a Partner in the Commercial and Competition team at Ward Hadaway with a national reputation for his expertise in public funding, including Subsidy Control law. His advice is described as "streets ahead of the competition, in terms of both quality and value" in the Chambers Directory.

At Ward Hadaway, Alexander is a trusted adviser to Combined Authorities, Councils and other public authorities administering funding programmes as well as to blue chip companies looking to secure grants, loans and guarantees from the public sector. Types of work provided by Alexander include:

  • Subsidy Control opinion letters;
  • drafting and negotiating Grant Funding Agreements; and
  • advising on public sector audits

Public and private sector clients seek out Alexander to advise upon their projects because of his breadth of experience. In a legal career spanning over 20 years, Alexander has advised upon projects featuring over £3.5bn of public funding, including grants to create new gigafactories, spaceports and innovative energy infrastructure. He worked for over seven years within the Government Legal Department on national funding programmes and was seconded, as a national expert, to the European Commission in Brussels.

As one of the UK’s leading Subsidy Control experts, Alexander has been part of the team that successfully advised upon the UK’s first case under the Subsidy Control Act 2022 (The Durham Company Limited v Durham County Council) as well as an expert witness to the House of Commons Select Committee designing the UK regime.

Experience

  • Supported a Combined Authority in administering over £225m of public funding, including drafting Grant Funding Agreements and advising upon Subsidy control compliance;
  • Advised a Government Department on how to streamline their suite of grant funding agreements, saving staff time by reducing the length of the agreements whilst strengthening key protections;
  • Successfully advised in the UK’s first case under the Subsidy Control Act 2022;
  • Worked with two global consultancy services to advise a government department how to unlock stalled public funded projects;
  • Advised over ten public authorities upon how to make Subsidy Control referrals to the Competition and Markets Authority.

Training

Alexander has an excellent reputation for providing lively and informative training sessions. He has provided over 70 training sessions on the State aid / Subsidy Control rules for the Government Legal Department, Government Departments, Mayoral Combined Authorities, Local Authorities and private sector businesses.

He has previously been a speaker at the State aid law experts’ conference (ESTALI) and appeared at the European Parliament to talk about financial instruments. In Subsidy Control he has spoken at the White Paper conferences and Chaired the Lexxion Subsidy Control training workshops.

Prizes

Lexology Client Choice Award 2022 – Competition Law (Subsidy Control / State Aid).

Media

Alexander regularly appears in the press providing views on legal issues. This includes Subsidy Control, the EU Foreign Subsidies Regime, Levelling Up and Brexit. This includes appearing on Sky News and the BBC Today programme, as well as being reported in publications such as the Financial Times, Le Monde, the Economist, the Telegraph and on the BBC website.

Alexander has also written national guidance for the Gov.uk website, contributed to two leading academic textbooks on State aid and been on the Board of Editors of an academic journal.

Notable cases

The Durham Company Limited v Durham County Council [2023] EWCA Civ 729 – the UK’s first case under the Subsidy Control Act

Expertise: Sectors

Healthcare

Public & Third Sector

Expertise: Services

Businesses

Public & Third Sector

What people say

  • He is a fount of knowledge. He does not miss a trick around the latest developments on State aid.

    Chambers and Partners, client quote

  • He is responsive and provides excellent advice that demonstrates commercial awareness.

    Chambers and Partners, client quote

  • Alexander brings a wealth of experience to bear on inward investment projects.

    Chambers and Partners, client quote

  • Alexander Rose has excellent knowledge of subsidies. He always goes the extra mile.

    Chambers and Partners, client quote

  • He has left our company with so much knowledge that we're now a better organisation, and can pass his knowledge on. He takes time to understand what we need. He has helped us learn and grow.

    Chambers and Partners, client quote

  • Alexander Rose's advice is streets ahead of the competition, in terms of both quality and value. His friendly and professional approach makes working with him a genuine pleasure.

    Chambers and Partners, client quote

My insights