Energy & Utilities
The Energy and Utilities sector faces many challenges:
- ever greater regulation;
- globalisation and consolidation;
- increasing concern about the environmental impact of energy production
and consumption;
- the Government's renewable energy targets;
- in the North Sea, the arrival of new or smaller development and production
companies as the majors increasingly look elsewhere.
Our wide range of specialists provide comprehensive and practical business
solutions across the United Kingdom, North Sea and internationally. We have
current experience of CCGT power station developments, waste water treatment
and asset procurement programmes, wind farms and other renewables including
hydro, MSW, biomass and tidal stream, acquisition and financing of oil and
gas assets, electricity and gas interconnectors, nuclear industry and offshore
and onshore engineering and support services.
Our teams of lawyers have the relevant skills and experience to support clients
in the Energy and Utilities sector - whatever their needs.
Head of Sector, Andrew Renton
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Financial Services
The pace of change in the UK financial services industry
(FSI) is rapid. It’s a dynamically evolving sector. Particular challenges
for financial institutions include:
- acquiring and retaining profitable customers, building market share
in focused remunerative areas
- looking for competitive advantage in an increasingly over-supplied marketplace
- dealing with ever-growing regulatory challenges, improving systems and
processes and ensuring compliance
- controlling costs tightly whilst raising income in a price-sensitive
environment
- finding the right distribution strategies for their products and services
Our FSI team offers solutions which include asset acquisitions, new product
design, outsourcing of non-strategic services, joint venturing with industry
partners and others, and development of new brands.
Our FSI experts look at the totality of the industry and our relationships
with the major institutions and you'll find that our UK FSI Credentials compare favourably
with those even of the largest City law firms.
Head of Sector, Michael Stoneham
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Government
Both the UK Government and the Scottish Government are
committed to an agenda for change. Public accountability and consumer demands
drive the agenda to improve public services and upgrade infrastructure in a cost
efficient manner. Some examples of the means of securing these objectives include:
- the development of Public Private Partnerships
- improving performance of Local Authorities through Best Value
- creation of agencies dedicated to improving public services.
The result is an environment that is highly regulated with the introduction
of new and often complex legislation and the need for the public sector to work in
partnership with the private sector through sophisticated contractual structures.
That’s where we come in.
We have a team of lawyers dedicated to supporting clients both in the public
and private sector. Our team, which includes many lawyers who have worked in
the public sector, does more than simply advise on the law. It provides a unique
insight into the environment within which the public sector operates and it understands the
demands placed on the public sector arising from its basic requirement to be
publicly accountable for the actions that it undertakes.
Head of Sector, Ann Faulds
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Real Estate
Our Real Estate strategy focuses on investment, development
and finance for leaders in the market.
Our clients are currently faced with many issues which include:
- Overcoming difficulties in finding opportunities/investments in a
competitive market when the fundamentals appear to be going the wrong way
- Diminishing arbitrage between UK interest rates and yields
- Considering REITS, COLL and other investment possibilities
- The impact of SDLT and consequent restructuring
- Possible Government intervention on commercial leases
- Changes to the English Planning Regime
We are responsive to such specific issues but we also help clients meet their
wider business objectives. Our work brings our lawyers together to provide
effective overall solutions on construction, debt/equity, development/regeneration,
environment, investment and appropriate vehicles, hospitality and leisure,
joint ventures, planning, property litigation, regulation and tax.
Head of Sector, Donald Shaw
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Technology
The technology sector has been through a very tough
time in the past few years and we believe that for the foreseeable future conditions
will continue to be challenging.
High quality research, innovation and, consequently,
intellectual property remain in plentiful supply. However, for dynamic businesses
seeking to develop and commercialise innovative technologies, the challenges
of raising capital, attracting and retaining top quality management, winning customers
in often volatile markets remains top of the agenda. Technology companies, of
course, have to be dynamic, and often opportunistic, while at the same time managing
carefully complex intellectual property portfolios and often operating in highly
regulated areas. Consequently, technology companies can (and should be) demanding
users of legal services regularly requiring advice quickly in a wide variety
of specialist areas including intellectual property matters, employment contracts
and incentives, public and private funding and competition law.
Like our technology clients, we seek to be innovative, commercial and entrepreneurial
at all times. We offer deep technical skills in a commercial and user friendly
manner and have guided many technology companies from their formative stages
through to mature businesses - and are delighted to bring this highly relevant
experience to bear for the benefit of our clients.
Head of Sector, Laurence Ward
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