The Company’s objects are the advancement of education by providing and managing accommodation and related services for educational institutions, their students and other persons associated with educational institutions and to develop and foster excellence and expertise in this field.
In furtherance of the Objects but not otherwise, the Company may exercise the following powers:-
- to acquire as a going concern all the property and assets of, and to continue the work of, the unincorporated charity known as Unipol Student Homes;
- to provide an accommodation agency and generally to assist persons seeking accommodation, including the provision of information and advice, the monitoring of the housing situation and the development of new housing initiatives;
- to run accreditation schemes for rented accommodation including training landlords and tenants on acceptable standards by reference to written materials and training modules;
- to promote, monitor and verify accreditation schemes for rented accommodation, to develop such schemes with local authorities and other non-profit making organisations and to train operators of accreditation schemes on how to establish, administer and ensure compliance with schemes;
- to acquire, develop, alter, improve, manage and (subject to such consents as may be required by law) to charge or otherwise dispose of property and to borrow money whether upon security or otherwise;
- to arrange or participate in research projects, conferences, publications and generally to gather and disseminate information and expertise likely to promote the Company and its Objects;
- to draw, make, accept, endorse, discount, execute and issue promissory notes, bills, cheques and other instruments and to operate bank accounts in the name of the Company;
- to raise funds and to invite and receive contributions and to receive gifts subject to special trusts within the Objects, without prejudice to the Company having the right to refuse as it sees fit any gift, contribution or legacy or bequest and provided that, in raising funds, the Company shall not undertake any substantial permanent trading activities and shall conform to any relevant statutory regulations;
- to invest any moneys not for the time being required for the Company's general purposes or with a view to meeting long-term commitment or requirements and to hold (either in nominee names or otherwise), sell or otherwise deal in such investments (either under discretionary investment management arrangements or otherwise) and generally to do all things which are in the Company's best interests or which are calculated directly or indirectly to protect, enhance the value of, or use most efficiently the Company's assets or resources;
- subject to clause 7 of the Articles, to accept, agree or contract for the services, assistance or contributions of any person or organisation upon such terms as the Company may see fit, including the provision of remuneration, indemnities, reimbursement of expenses, insurance and reasonable working conditions and to provide reasonable terms of employment including benefits for past employees and the dependants of employees or past employees;
- to provide indemnity insurance to cover the liability of the Directors which by virtue of any rule of law would otherwise attach to them in respect of any negligence, default, breach of trust or breach of duty of which they may be guilty in relation to the Company; provided that any such insurance shall not extend to any claim arising from any act or omission which the directors knew to be a breach of trust or breach of duty or which was committed by the directors in reckless disregard of whether it was a breach of trust or breach of duty or not, provided also that any such insurance shall not extend to the costs of an unsuccessful defence to a criminal prosecution brought against the directors in their capacity as directors of the Company;
- to establish or support any charitable trusts, association or institutions formed for all or any of the Objects;
- to co-operate with other charities, voluntary bodies and statutory authorities operating in furtherance of the Objects or similar charitable purposes and to exchange information and advice with them;
- to pay out of the funds of the Company the costs, charges and expenses of, and incidental to, the formation and registration of the Company;
- to do all such other lawful things as are necessary for the achievement of the Objects;
- to do all or any of these thing either as principals, agents, contractors, trustees or otherwise and by or through trustees, agents or otherwise or by forming other companies or trusts or by acquiring or holding shares and either alone or in conjunction with others with a view to fulfilling the Objects.
Articles of Association
The current Unipol became incorporated on 10 July 1997 and its Articles were most recently amended on 12th February 2016. The Articles of Association specifies the regulations for a company's operations and defines the company's purpose. The document lays out how tasks are to be accomplished within the organisation, including the process for appointing Directors and the handling of financial records.