insight - Burges Salmon

Sector work featured in this annual review 2012:ENERGYTRANSPORTFOOD, FARMING & LANDREAL ESTATEFINANCIAL SERVICESAEROSPACE & DEFENCESPORTHOTELS & LEISUREINDUSTRIAL & CHEMICALRETAILNavigating new territoriesAs a trusted adviser to the Nuclear DecommissioningAuthority (NDA) since 2005, we have supported thisnon-departmental public body in achieving a numberof significant milestones over the last seven years.Most recently we helped fully realise the NDA’s vision ofaccelerating the decommissioning of Britain’s second largestcivil nuclear site at Dounreay in Caithness, Scotland. Thissaw us advising on a major competitive dialogue involvingan extensive PPP arrangement worth several billion pounds,with significant procurement aspects.In April 2012, after extensive input from a wide range ofstakeholders and advisers, a Babcock-led consortium calledBabcock Dounreay Partnership Ltd (BDP) – which alsoincluded US nuclear clean-up specialists URS and CH2MHill – was appointed as the parent body for the site closure,taking over ownership of Dounreay Site Restoration Limited.The driving force in this process was the negotiation of anew target cost incentive fee (TCIF) contract arrangementwhich sees the parent BDP sharing risk with the NDA andproviding reassurance of deliverable cost savings.Burges Salmon played a significant role in developing thepayment and performance mechanism relating to the riskallocations between NDA and the successful bidder.This allowed the client and BDP to achieve cost certaintyagainst a major contract and forecast savings to the NDAwell in excess of £1 billion pounds sterling. We were alsoable to secure an accelerated closure date, shorteningcontract length significantly.The legal team was led by partners Mark Paterson andJohn Houlden supported by lawyers Bonnie Coggon,Falle Pearce and Cheryl Parkhouse. Mark spent almost sixDounreay site, Caithness, Scotlandmonths working closely with the client at their head officein Cumbria, with Bonnie also working out of the NDA’soffices for approximately three months at the start of 2012.The client praised the team’s combined technicalexcellence and attention to detail and said their strongclient relationship skills helped them effectively navigateand implement the NDA’s first target cost contract.It was crucial that the legal side of this project was handled proactively and professionally.The Burges Salmon team supported us really well and added greatly to the credibility, in assuranceterms, of the team as a whole.Rob Higgins, Head of Legal, NDAINSIGHT Burges Salmon Annual Review 2012 11