DAC Beachcroft, Eversheds and Gateley win spots on Taylor Wimpey panel
UK housebuilder Taylor Wimpey has cut its roster of legal advisers from 13 to just six following a panel review.
Taylor Wimpey
DAC Beachcroft, Eversheds, Gateley, Osborne Clarke, SNR Denton and Wragge & Co are all understood to have secured a place on the slimmed-down panel, which is contracted to run for three years.
Taylor Wimpey last reviewed its panel in 2010 (21 June 2010), at which point the six firms were among 13 advising the company.
The others on that list included Clarke Willmott, Nabarro and Watson Burton acting on disputes matters regionally and Berwin Leighton Paisner and DMH Stallard advising on planning matters.
It is understood that the six firms selected in the latest round will advise Taylor Wimpey nationally, with the company moving away from having regionally focused panels.
Group legal director and company secretary James Jordan said: “We’ve appointed or reappointed these six firms to be our panel in England and Wales.
“We’ve sought to appoint top-quality firms which can provide an efficient service to all of our regional businesses, principally in the areas of land - including planning - strategic land and dispute related work. We want to create strong mutually beneficial relationships with all six firms.
“I’m very pleased with both the process and the outcome.”
DAC Beachcroft partner Robert Lee, who leads the real estate team, pitched for the work with support from partners Guy Knight, Tim Johnson and Ashley Dewar and associate Nick Beko. Legacy firm Davies Arnold Cooper was on the previous Taylor Wimpey panel.
Lee said: “Key to our team’s success during the tender process was the regional capability and expanded presence that the merged firm DAC Beachcroft now offers.”
Yesterday, construction giant Balfour Beatty kicked off a panel review with the aim of slashing legal spend by up to a third by packaging certain areas of work and tendering it out to the lowest bidders (7 November 2012).
