Yorkshire Forward Launches New Legal Services Panels
06.04.10
Yorkshire Forward has announced that it is to have two new Legal Services Panels to represent its interests and its public sector partners from 1 April 2010.
The panels, consisting of 9 firms with a strong presence in the region, will take up their position for a period of 3 years; with an option for Yorkshire Forward to extend the term for a further 12 months.
The largest of the two panels will include representation from Addleshaw Goddard LLP, Cobbetts LLP, Eversheds LLP, Hammonds LLP, Pinsent Masons LLP and Walker Morris, selected to provide legal advice across 15 areas of law including regeneration and economic development work.
Clarion, Taylor and Emmet LLP and Wake Smith and Tofields have been selected to make up the second panel and will provide legal advice across company/commercial, litigation, information and property law.
A new procurement process, aimed at creating two panels of high-quality law firms whose aspirations and cultures aligned with the Development Agency, ensured that both SMEs and larger firms could access the tender process easily and compete to deliver Yorkshire Forward's complex, multi-disciplinary legal work.
The groundbreaking process specifically set out to attract SME applicants to counter the under-representation of SMEs on public sector legal panels.
Tom Riordan, chief executive of Yorkshire Forward comments: "Yorkshire Forward's current panel of firms have provided the legal advice and expertise that has helped us deliver hundreds of projects within the region, such as Digital Region and Finance Yorkshire, which drive the region's economic development.
"The growth of the legal community in Yorkshire and Humber is a real regional success story and we wanted to ensure that the two new panels were open to all firms in the region, whether large or small.
"This new procurement process has allowed Yorkshire Forward to redefine its relationship with its panel firms, in readiness for a period of change in the public sector. We have worked hard to position the public sector as a client to the whole of our legal community and to design a process to give us what we wanted, rather than being limited by traditional procurement methodologies. The end result will ensure a strong working partnership between the panels and Yorkshire Forward and its partners, and will ensure value for money is at the heart of the service."