Local government in North West
Addleshaw Goddard
Addleshaw Goddard regularly acts for and against local government clients on a wide range of contentious and non-contentious matters; its experience includes outsourcing, housing , real estate, projects and funds work. The team also advises combined authority and local government pension fund administrators on investments. Michael O’Connor handles public, private and project finance transactions, while Andrew Pettinger, who is based across the Leeds and Manchester offices and leads the local government team, advises on a wide range of commercial transactions for local government clients.
Practice head(s):
Michael O’Connor; Andrew Pettinger
Other key lawyers:
Stephanie Townley; Rob Thompson; Philip Dupres
Key clients
Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council
Manchester City Council
Cheshire East Council/Connecting Cheshire
Cumbria County Council
Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council
Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council
Burnley Borough Council
Cheshire West & Chester Council
York City Council
Leeds City Council
Luton Borough Council
Reading Borough Council
Hull City Council
Derby City Council
Somerset County Council
Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council
Bradford City Council
Wakefield County Council
Stoke City Council
Work highlights
- Acted for Tameside (in its capacity as administrator of the Greater Manchester Pension Fund), as mezzanine lender and equity investor in a Joint Venture with Urban & Civic, as developer in connection with the development of three residential blocks at Manchester New Square.
- Acted for Leeds City Council the promotion and procurement of a district heating scheme in Leeds.
- Advised Wakefield City Council on a variation to its street lighting PFI agreement which will allow the Council to make energy savings in excess of 60%.
- Advised Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council on a second generation ICT outsourcing contract to replace its existing arrangement.
- Advised Cumbria County Council on the refinancing of senior debt facilities on the Carlisle Northern Development Route PFI Project.
DLA Piper
DLA Piper UK LLP is 'very dedicated and the team is quick to understand issues at hand'. It advises its local government clients across the UK on a range of matters such as corporate and commercial projects, planning, outsourcing; real estate; projects; pensions; and disputes. Peter Brook is experienced in large scale outsourcing transactions, legal director Sophie Stewart handles planning, highways and compulsory purchase matters. Legal director Gemma Cowap handles commercial matters, while Sarah Bell and Liam Cowell , who is 'always available', jointly head the team.
Practice head(s):
Liam Cowell; Sarah Bell
Other key lawyers:
Sophie Stewart; Peter Brook; Ben Miller; Gemma Cowap; Paddy Dwyer
Testimonials
‘The team is very responsive team and shows leadership.’
Key clients
Cheshire West and Chester Borough Council
Cumbria County Council
Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority
Halton Borough Council / Mersey Gateway Crossing Board
Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council
Liverpool Vision
The Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime
Transport for Greater Manchester
Work highlights
- Advising on all aspects of Cheshire West and Chester Council (“CWAC”)’s major regeneration scheme at Chester Northgate, which included planning, heritage, CPO, highways and open space advice.
- Advised the Greater Manchester Combined Authority on the re-procurement of waste management services across Greater Manchester following the termination of its existing waste PFI project.
- Advised Mersey Gateway Crossing Board/Halton Borough Council on outstanding compensation claims.
- Advised Transport for Greater Manchester on a variation to its existing agreement for the supply of light rail rolling stock for the Metrolink system.
- Advised Merseytravel on a ground-breaking digital railway project to provide a digital Train Connectivity and Information System (TCIS) which will enable state of the art train management systems and passenger information, CCTV and public announcement systems on the new trains to communicate with the Merseyrail Electrics control room.
DWF
DWF 's multi-disciplinary local government team stands out for its specialist state aid and public procurement expertise, as well as its experience in regeneration and infrastructure projects and insurance mandates. The team also advises public sector clients on loan funding projects. EU and competition head Jonathan Branton and Colin Murray, who are based across the firm's Leeds and Manchester offices, jointly head the team. Bradley Martin is recommended as a rising star.
Practice head(s):
Jonathan Branton; Colin Murray
Other key lawyers:
James Lupton; Paul Brown; Bradley Martin; Jay Mehta
Key clients
Wirral Metropolitan Council
Liverpool City Council
Lancashire County Council
Wigan Council
Cheshire and Warrington LEP
South Tyneside Council
Cornwall County Council
West Lindsey District Council
Bradford Council
Wakefield Council
The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
Wrexham County Borough Council
Liverpool City Region Combined Authority
Hull City Council
Leeds City Council
Birmingham City Council & Finance Birmingham
Work highlights
- Advised Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council on a £500m regeneration project, which includes the delivery of 500 new homes; the Tower Road Project; the delivery of a golf course, new hotel, new road, and new residential properties; and the development of a Maritime Knowledge Hub and new offices.
- Advised Liverpool City Council Matter on its ‘Parklife’ project, which involves the refurbishment and upgrading of four new football facilities across Liverpool.
- Advised Lancashire County Council on the delivery of the Samlesbury Enterprise Zone, and also advised the client on advised on the Judicial Review of Defra’s decision to end the entitlement of LCC to receive Revenue Support Grant as a result of the early termination of the PFI arrangement.
- Advised Wigan Council Matter on the North Leigh Project and on the provision of a new medical centre.
- Advised South Tyneside Council its procurement of a development partner for a £200m mixed-use development.
Pinsent Masons LLP
Pinsent Masons LLP in Manchester is best known for its ability to advise on a range of issues for local government clients including cutting-edge developments in PPP policy in regeneration and social housing, alternative service models, alternative investment models and infrastructure funds in the region and beyond. The team also offers planning advice and is regularly engaged on housing, development and regeneration schemes. Team head Scot Morrison has a 'wealth of experience' and is noted for his experience in joint venture structuring; he is ably supported by Helen Robinson on public-private partnership transactions.
Practice head(s):
Scot Morrison
Other key lawyers:
Helen Robinson; Michael Pocock; Victoria Scanlon; Liz Nuttall
Key clients
Manchester City Council
Wandsworth Borough Council
London Borough of Haringey
Homes England
Folkestone and Hythe District Council
Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council and Hampshire County Council
Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council
Sunderland City Council and South Tyneside Council
London Borough of Croydon
Work highlights
- The team continues to advise Manchester City Council on the Northern Gateway Project.
- Advised London Legacy Development Corporation in relation to a number of residential developments across the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and wider area.
- Advised Folkestone and Hythe District Council in relation to Otterpool Park – a new Garden Town.
- Advised London Borough of Wandsworth on the procurement of a private sector development partner for the delivery of a 13 hectare estate renewal project, for the Winstanley and York Road Estates.
- Advised Manchester City Council and the Greater Manchester Pension Fund in relation to the delivery of its second Housing Investment Fund.
BLM
BLM handles a range of work for local government clients and boasts experience across development work, site acquisitions and funding, governance, abuse and child sexual exploitation, social care, misfeasance, regulatory matters, social housing, personal injury, IP, media and communications instructions. Commercial advisory head Stephen Lintott specialises in real estate mandates. Paul Tarne, who is experienced in civil claims, and Matthew Hyam, who is noted for his social housing expertise, jointly head the team.
Practice head(s):
Paul Tarne; Matthew Hyam
Other key lawyers:
Stephen Lintott; Tessa Leonard; Garry Dover; Nicholas Leigh; Lauren Gosnell
Key clients
Wirral MBC
Knowsley MBC
Sheffield City Council
Stockport MBC
Lancaster City Council
West Lancashire Borough Council
Lancashire County Council
Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service
Rochdale MBC
Blackpool Council
Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service
Work highlights
- Defended council on an accident claim.
- Advised Sheffield City Council on a claim for damages following a fall the claimant had during the course of her employment.
Eversheds Sutherland (International) LLP
Eversheds Sutherland (International) LLP stands out for its public sector expertise and the firm advises on projects, governance and structures, collaboration with the private sector and third sector, regeneration developments, major outsourcing, procurement, investigations and public sector pension matters. In Manchester, the team has handled significant transport and development projects. Jackie Heeds is 'brilliant' and has vast experience in infrastructure transactions procured through PFI/PPP/PF2 and Joint Ventures. Kuljeet Gill is also a key figure.
Practice head(s):
Jackie Heeds
Other key lawyers:
Key clients
Transport for Greater Manchester (“TfGM”)
The University of Manchester
Work highlights
- Advised Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM), in conjunction with Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council (SMBC) and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) who are the co-promoters, on the proposed delivery of a transport interchange facility, associated ‘green space’ park, residential mixed-use development and link to heavy rail station works in Stockport town centre.
- Appointed by the University to advise on the development of its North Campus in Manchester City Centre in September 2017.
Trowers & Hamlins LLP
The 'impressive' team at Trowers & Hamlins LLP handles a range of matters such as complex advisory work; town centre infrastructure and regeneration projects; estate regeneration; local authority housing development; and governance and strategy mandates. The team is also experienced on the large scale voluntary transfer of council housing stock and advises local government clients on constitutional and contractual work. In Manchester, Suzanne Benson heads the housing and regeneration team.
Practice head(s):
Suzanne Benson
Other key lawyers:
Richard St John Williams; Tom Wainwright; Matthew Holbrook; Kativa Roy
Key clients
Homes England
Liverpool City Council
Wokingham Borough Council
Bury Council
Wolverhampton City Council
London Borough of Lambeth
Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council
London Borough of Sutton
Reading Borough Council
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority
Work highlights
- Advised Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) on the establishment of a joint venture between it and 10 members of the Greater Manchester Housing Partnership.
- Advising Homes England on the implementation of its national Local Authority Funding for Accelerated Construction Sites programme across a number of schemes.
- Advising Liverpool City Council on its mayoral initiative to promote improved access to home ownership for first time buyers.
- Advised the administrating authority for the West Midlands Pension Fund in respect of the management of its property investment portfolio.
- Advising the London Borough of Lambeth on its regeneration plans for Brixton Central.
Weightmans LLP
Weightmans LLP's local government expertise spans major regeneration, projects, property, construction, planning, employment, civil litigation, commercial debt recovery, prosecutions, governance issues, commercial matters, public procurement, State aid, housing, child and adult social care mandates. Team head Simon Goacher advises on governance matters for many local authorities and often conducts sensitive investigations.
Practice head(s):
Simon Goacher
Key clients
North West Legal Consortium
Manchester City Council
Rochdale Borough Council
Wirral Borough Council
Liverpool City Region Combined Authority
Stockport MBC
Cheshire East Council
Cumbria County Council
Knowsley MBC
South Ribble BC
Oldham MBC
Bolton MBC
Staffordshire Moorlands DC
Stoke on Trent CC
Salford CC
Telford BC
Shropshire CC
Work highlights
- Advised Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council, which is a core participant in the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.
- Advised Liverpool City Council on its £1bn flagship expansion site at the eastern gateway to the City, earmarked as 1.8m sq ft of science, technology, education and health space.
- Advised Denbighshire County Council on an overarching development agreement, development agreements for leisure and hospitality phases and the funding documentation including lease-backing arrangements.
- Advised The Senior Coroner of the County of Cumbria in relation to an application for Judicial Review by the father of a deceased child.
- Advised Herefordshire Council on its receipt of £23m of grant funding from the Department for Education and the Marches Local Enterprise Partnership to build a new university in Hereford, called the New Model in Technology & Engineering (NMiTE).
DAC Beachcroft LLP
DAC Beachcroft LLP is active across a range of real estate, project, corporate and commercial mandates and also offers expertise across construction, pensions, mental health, safeguarding, information law, corporate manslaughter, procurement, competition law and state aid. The team also handles core local government law and governance issues for local government clients. Northern real estate head Alison Key leads the team.
Practice head(s):
Alison Key
Other key lawyers:
Rachael Reynolds
Key clients
Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council
St Helens Council
Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council
Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council and John Laing Infrastructure Fund
Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council
Greater Manchester Pension Fund
Trafford Borough Council
Bradford City Council
Liverpool County Council
Work highlights
- Advised Bolton Council in the property and construction matters relating to a jointly-funded refurbishment of the Octagon Theatre.
- Advised Warrington Borough Council on a £42.5m interest only term loan to Your Housing Group for the development of private rental sector apartments on the Liverpool waterfront.
- Advised Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council on behalf of Greater Manchester pension Fund Real EstateMatter on the purchase of two new distribution parks in the South East of England.
- Advised Bradford City Councilon all aspects of a scheme to regenerate and relocate the Bradford Markets.
- Advised St Helen’s Council on the £340m redevelopment of Newton le Willows Station.
Hill Dickinson LLP
Hill Dickinson LLP stands out for its experience across a range of public procurement, regeneration, dispute resolution and telecoms mandates. The team also offers construction, restructuring, health, restructuring, banking and planning expertise. Mark Fitzgibbon, who leads the commercial, TMT and IP team and Tracey Sheehan, who is head of telecoms, jointly lead the team.
Practice head(s):
Mark Fitzgibbon; Tracey Sheehan
Testimonials
‘The level of strategic thinking and understanding of the national health agenda and ‘politics’ is key.’
Key clients
Liverpool City Council
Rochdale Borough Council
Pendle Borough Council
Sefton Borough Council
Wyre Council
Oldham Borough Council
St. Helens Borough Council
Work highlights
- Advised Liverpool City Council on the design and building of a new cruise liner terminal on the Mersey waterfront.
- Acted for Pendle Borough Council on its desire to create a commercially focused joint venture between itself, Barnfield Investment Properties and Harewood Housing Society.
- Acted for The ACC Liverpool Group, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Liverpool City Council and operates (on behalf of the Council) the Liverpool Arena and Exhibition Centre at the Kings Dock in Liverpool, on commercial and procurement matters.
- Advising St Helens Borough Council with NHS St Helens Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) on the establishment of a collaborative approach to health and social care commissioning and provision in St Helens.
- Advised Rochdale Borough Council on its project to re-develop the children’s play area at Denehurst Park.
Squire Patton Boggs
Squire Patton Boggs stands out for its experience across regeneration projects and large scale development transactions involving public and private sector collaboration, and the team also has extensive experience in the funding market. Local government pension schemes, infrastructure and transport projects are also key areas of expertise, as are finance, corporate issues and disputes. Team heads Mark Barker and Mark Gaffney specialise in development work and regeneration projects.
Practice head(s):
Mark Barker; Mark Gaffney
Other key lawyers:
Nick Helm; Julian Scott; Matthew Ingram; Victoria Leigh; Giles Chesher
Key clients
Leeds City Council
Preston City Council
Warrington Borough Council
Manchester City Council
Birmingham City Council
Muse Developments
Leeds City Region Revolving Investment Fund
Greater Manchester Pension Fund
South Yorkshire Pensions Authority
Hertfordshire County Council Pension Fund
Galliford Try Investments
Equitix
Work highlights
- Acting for Leeds City Region Revolving Investment Fund in £9.6m of funding for the construction of 330 low carbon homes.
- Advising Hertfordshire County Council Pension Fund on behalf of the ACCESS Pool on a range of governance and investment issues.
- Advised Preston City Council on the £50m redevelopment of the City’s Markets Quarter.
- Advised Warrington Borough Council on the £130m mixed-use town centre regeneration project at Time Square.
- Advised Muse Developments on a joint venture with Wirral Borough Council in respect of the Wirral Growth Company, a property/asset JV providing a £1bn regeneration opportunity.
Stephensons Solicitors LLP
Stephensons Solicitors LLP handles a range of regulatory, discrimination, childcare, adult social services and community care, litigation, property, employment and pensions mandates in the local government space. Regulatory head Sean Joyce, real estate head David Baybut, senior associate Maria Chadwick and family head Victoria Gethin lead the team.
Practice head(s):
Sean Joyce; David Baybut; Maria Chadwick; Victoria Gethin
Other key lawyers:
Tim Galbraith
Key clients
Barnsley Council
Boston Council
The Solicitors Regulation Authority
Kirklees Council
The Legal Aid Agency
Stockport Council
Work highlights
- Advised the Council of the Borough of Kirklees on the acquisition of properties that had previously been sold under the right to buy scheme.
TLT
TLT handles a range of procurement, IT transformations, and large-scale development and regeneration projects. In Manchester, the team has a growing presence across planning, regeneration projects, real estate, tax, and procurement mandates. It also handles commercial and contractual work and is instructed on disputes. John Hyde heads the property development team and litigator Jon Hainey is experienced in public law and procurement disputes.