Legal services contract worth up to £3m for estates portfolio disposal

The shared services operation for the UK’s seven Research Councils has launched a procurement exercise for a contract for legal services worth up to £3m advising on the disposal of an estates portfolio.

Acting on behalf of the BIS Partner Network, Research Councils UK Shared Services Centre (RCUK SSC) is looking to dispose of a number of surplus leasehold liabilities by way of a portfolio type transaction within 2012/13.

A portfolio of approximately 60-70 properties has been identified that may be suitable to combine into one or a number of packages for disposal. They are spread across England, with one located in Glasgow.

RCUK SSC estimates the value of the legal services contract to be worth between £500,000 and £3m over a three-year period.

The shared services organisation was set up by Research Councils UK to reduce spend on administration. It provides services in areas such as human resources, finance, procurement, IT IS and grants administration.

Each year the research councils invest around £2.8bn in research.

The deadline date is 12 Noon on 3 October.