A team from leading Bristol law firm Burges Salmon has been named Commercial Team of the Year at the annual British Legal Awards for its stand-out work for the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA).
The team supported the NDA through effective collaboration on a trailblazing Target Cost Incentive Fee (TCIF) contract structure for the decommissioning of Britain’s second-largest nuclear site at Dounreay, Scotland, pictured below.
The project achieve cost certainty against a major contract, forecast public sector savings in excess of £1bn pounds and set standards for future decommissioning programmes not only for the UK, but for Europe and other parts of the world.
Central to the success of this extensive PPP (public-private partnership) arrangement worth several billion pounds was the negotiation of a new TCIF contract by Burges Salmon – the first contract of its type that NDA had awarded for the decommissioning of one of its nuclear sites.
The award-winning team was made up of specialists from across Burges Salmon’s energy and commercial teams led by head of projects Mark Paterson working alongside experienced procurement partner John Houlden and head of nuclear Ian Salter.
Commercial lawyer at NDA David McIntosh said: “The law firm’s input was exceptional. Their team combined technical excellence and attention to detail with very good client relationship skills, which helped us to navigate and implement our first target cost contract.”
Burges Salmon senior partner Alan Barr said: “We are delighted to have been named Commercial Team of the Year at this year's British Legal Awards. It is a great achievement for the team. The fact that our dispute resolution team was also shortlisted for another award demonstrates the breadth and quality of the firm’s practice.”
Burges Salmon saw off fierce competition for this Team of the Year title from major firms Baker & McKenzie, CMS, Eversheds, Mayer Brown and Pinsent Masons. The awards are sponsored by leading industry title Legal Week.
