insight - Burges Salmon

Going theextra mileSetting new standardsThe European rail market is being fundamentallytransformed and liberalised, operationally, commerciallyand legally. Eurostar – with its high quality cross-borderrail service and brand – is at the cutting edge of thosedevelopments.Burges Salmon has worked with Eurostar since 2008.Between then and 2010, Brioney Thomas and thecommercial team advised on a business critical project(code-named ‘Velocity’) which saw Eurostar procuring itsnew £700 million fleet of 320kph/200mph trains, keepingit at the forefront of a competitive market.In October 2010, when this contract was awardedto Siemens of Germany, Alstom – the incumbent andfellow bidder – reacted strongly and launched a powerfulchallenge, seeking to prevent the contract with Siemensgoing ahead. What followed was to become one of Europe’shighest value and most complex procurement challenges.This was of course a high profile, business critical issuefor our client and as such it demanded first-class technicalexpertise in litigation, rail and procurement regulation. Thelitigators in the team also had to guide Eurostar throughthree critical and complex judgments – in each of which thehigh speed rail operator was successful. The team advisingon the challenge was led by commercial disputes partnerChris Jackson along with procurement specialist JohnHoulden, rail safety partner Ann Metherall and commercialrail partners Simon Coppen and Brioney Thomas.Burges Salmon took numerous additional steps to helpEurostar to achieve this crucial result. These includedflexing the size of the team of experienced lawyers tomatch peaks of activity in a cost effective manner, as wellas providing specialist project managers from within thefirm and identifying discrete work streams. The strategywas regularly evaluated to keep the client’s commercialand regulatory interests as the driving force.As such, the team helped Eurostar calmly and effectivelyhold its position – and most importantly to emergesuccessfully – from this determined challenge.By the time the claim was dropped, the case had createdsignificant new law. As a result, 2014 should see the firstnew generation Eurostar ‘e320’ trains and a new era ininternational rail services.The most impressive element remains the depth of strategic thinking which Burges Salmon broughtto the case. Technical expertise is a given – it is how that expertise is contextualised, communicatedand shaped into a coherent strategy that is the real success factor.Gareth Williams, Director of Regulatory Affairs and Company Secretary, Eurostar10 INSIGHT Burges Salmon Annual Review 2012