Bristol and London law firm Temple Bright has continued to develop its focus on construction projects in the education sector, advising a Cambridgeshire academy on a programme of renewal funded through the Education & Skills Funding Agency’s Condition Improvement Fund (CIF).
The roof works at the Longsands Academy in St Neots form part of a rolling programme of works funded by CIF. 
It is Temple Bright’s first instruction by the St Neots Learning Partnership and the latest in a series of appointments in the education sector for its Bristol-based construction law team.
Comprising partners Julia Davenport-Cooper, pictured, and Kit Harvey, the team continues to develop its reputation across the UK.
Julia, who leads the firm’s advice on the project, said: “We were delighted to receive this first instruction from the team at St Neots, whom I have known for many years.
“The work will be taking place in a live school environment, so the parties’ aim will be to achieve great practical results with minimum disruption. Temple Bright has a growing track record in this sector and we will be applying our experience to help them meet these goals.”
Temple Bright has developed a broad range of expertise since it was launched by three partners in Bristol in 2010. The firm, which has pioneered a streamlined, partner-only structure, started out advising entrepreneurs and SMEs in the South West.
In 2013 it opened a London office just north of the City in Shoreditch and continued with a similar emphasis, but with a particular focus on the tech start-up companies clustered in that district and for which the streamlined model proved a popular choice.
As the firm approaches its eighth birthday this spring it has nearly 60 partners and a client list extending to listed companies, public sector bodies, schools and charities alongside a continuing large SME base.
This parallel development can continue even-handedly, according to the founders, because the business model means every client is advised by a partner without delegation to juniors and no client is treated as less important.
Co-founder Tim Summers said: “Although most of our lawyers trained in large City firms, Temple Bright itself has its roots in the SME market and our business model was developed with these clients in mind.
“What we have been delighted to find in recent years is that the model is popular with clients of many sizes and sectors, from start-ups to schools to PLCs. All these clients want the things we promise – partner attention and reduced and more certain fees – and these days there are not many deals or work types that we can’t handle.
“Julia’s construction deals in the education sector, of which the St Neots project is the latest example, show a developing niche which is a long way from where we started out but all the more exciting for that.”
