Procurement

Procurement is at the heart of what we do. We have a long heritage in delivering innovative solutions for the procurement of public services and projects. We provide practically focused advice on a range of delivery models for regulated procurement, covering the public sector, utilities, defence and concessions.

We have an online portal to support clients through the implementation of the reforms introduced by the Procurement Act 2023, and provide regular seminars and other training resources regarding the development of the law in this area. Find out more about how ProAct 23 can help you.

Our highly renowned and specialist team of lawyers work in many different sectors including energy and resource management, transport, justice, health, education, housing, defence, construction and regeneration.

The team has an excellent ability to make sense of complex and sometimes ambiguous situations and to provide crisp, clear and actionable advice.

The team has an excellent ability to make sense of complex and sometimes ambiguous situations and to provide crisp, clear and actionable advice.

Chambers UK, 2025

We act for purchasers planning and running regulated procurement processes, and also for bidders participating in tenders.

Our purchaser clients include: central government departments, their executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies; local government; NHS bodies; education providers; and housing associations. Our team work with utilities purchasers active in the energy and transport sectors. We often advise business clients and third sector providers bidding to secure public contracts.

Our team engages on emerging procurement policy issues and regulation: providing highly regarded, training events and bespoke training for clients; and publishing easily readable guides on day-to-day procurement issues.

Our specialist procurement litigation team can provide support if a procurement is challenged or if you are an unsuccessful bidder looking to challenge the outcome of a procurement.

The latest procurement news, articles, events can be found in our Insight Information hub.
We have worked with many clients on innovative, bespoke models for delivery of projects, including:
- Establishing open frameworks under the Procurement Act 2023
- Running Competitive Flexible Procedures under the Procurement Act 2023
- Providing procurement support to the Department for Education on the Construction Framework 2025 with an estimated value of £15.4 billion
- Advising Derby City Council and Derbyshire County Council on their £1.2 billion procurement to appoint a contractor to rectify and then operate a waste treatment centre with a contract duration of up to 40 years
- Advising Nottinghamshire County Council on £390m procurement to establish a joint venture to deliver school meals and facilities management services to over 200 schools across the county
- Strategic Estate Partnerships (SEPs) to invest in and deliver new capital projects as well as to rationalise and generate efficiency and revenue out of the vast NHS property estates
- Local Authority Asset Backed Vehicles (LABVs) to realise the potential of public sector assets through multi-site commercial, residential and public realm regeneration
- Local authority strategic construction partnerships to deliver leisure, education and community facilities capital programmes
- New models for local authorities to set up municipal energy supply companies and joint projects for district heat networks, to ensure security and efficiency of energy supply
- National homes energy efficiency schemes, accessible to local authorities
- National audit services procurements accessible to local authorities and blue light organisations
- End of life and home care services, using outcomes based contracts and engaging with social finance providers
- Use of dynamic markets based approaches for the provision of a range of services
- Framework arrangements for comprehensive multi-NHS Trust non-emergency patient transport services
- Complex joint venture development projects
They are very alive to our commercial objectives and with a wide client base they have a lot of relevant similar transaction experience.

Chambers UK, 2025
We advised Cardiff Council on a major procurement to appoint a bidder to design and construct a 15,000 capacity music and events Arena in the city and to operate and maintain the arena for a term of 40 years. The model of delivery entails the Council contributing financing towards the scheme and the delivery of a hotel, connecting road infrastructure and public realm spaces. The project entails a mix of finance, development, leasing, land assembly and operator arrangements to be resolved in delivering the scheme.
Our role included supporting the Council from inception, strategy, drafting, evaluation and delivery.

We are advising London Borough of Hackney (the ‘Council’) in relation to two procurement exercises relating to the Colville Heat Network district heating scheme being developed by the Council for the Colville & Britannia developments in the North Shoreditch area. The heating network will provide low carbon and affordable heat to existing and new buildings to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and will be designed to be ready to connect to neighbouring wider area networks in the long-term future. The project benefits from grant funding from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s (DESNZ) Green Heat Network Fund.

Having first advised on the applicable public procurement rules, we have supported the Council with the design, documenting and running of a procurement process for a mechanical, electrical, civils and control contractor to Design, Build, Operate and Maintain (DBOM) the network for up to ten years, and with the development of the contract. We are also engaged to support the Council with a second procurement exercise to appoint a Metering and Billing contractor.

We are advising Derby City Council and Derbyshire County Council on their £1.2 billion Derby and Derbyshire Waste Treatment Centre (DDWTC) project. The DDWTC comprise a Mechanical Recovery Facility and a thermal treatment facility (which uses Advanced Conversion Technology or gasification technology) for the treatment of residual waste and generation of electricity. The project involves the rectification, commissioning and optimisation of the currently non-operational DDWTC. Our multi-disciplinary team is supporting the client on all legal aspects of this project, including on a complex multi-phase procurement process, contracts, regulatory issues, operational matters, construction law, public law, and energy matters.
We have an online ProAct 2023 portal to support clients through the implementation of the reforms introduced by the Procurement Act 2023, and provide regular seminars and other training resources regarding the development of the law in this area.