Law firm wins £1.3m contract for commercial and property legal advice

Pinsent Masons has beaten off nine other applicants to win the role of giving property and commercial legal advice to two councils on an 840-hectare development project.

Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council and Hampshire County Council are the leaseholders of the land at Manydown, near Basingstoke.

The two authorities are in the process of procuring a consortium of consultants to prepare a detailed masterplan and submit a planning application for the first phase of the Manydown project.

Pinsent Masons is expected to advise the councils – as joint landowners and developers of the project – on:

• Legal agreements and documentation;
• Conveyancing of land interests;
• Future commercial and non-commercial organisation and governance structures;
• Associated compliance and regulatory issues including but not limited to procurement, State Aid, vires and local government legislation;
• Procurement of strategic partner(s) to jointly develop and deliver the Manydown project alongside the councils through relevant corporate or joint venture structure(s);
• Governance structures and issues;

The councils said they were looking for an "adaptable legal service which can offer responsive, high quality advice and where necessary, negotiation and recommendations".

Worth an estimated £1.3m, the contract is expected last between three and five years, though this could vary depending on the how the project progresses as a whole.

The contract was awarded to Pinsent Masons on the basis of the most economically advantageous tender in terms of cost (weighting 40), team roles and responsibilities (weighting 30) and method statement (weighting 30).

Basingstoke and Deane and Hampshire have run a separate procurement for the provision of planning legal advice for the Manydown project.

A decision has been made on this and notifications have been published to tendereres. More information is expected to be published once the standstill period has ended.