IR reveals winners of estates contracts

The Inland Revenue has awarded contracts for the provision of estate management legal services in England and Wales to law firms Pinsent Curtis and Vaudreys.

The firms, which were chosen from 105 applications, will each cover four regions as part of the three-year contract running from 1 April this year.

The contract relates to all property matters within the Inland Revenue estate including acquisitions and disposals as well as related property litigation advice.

Pinsents will cover the London, South East, South West and eastern regions while Vaudreys will be responsible for the North, North West, South Yorkshire and Wales/Midlands regions.

The Inland Revenue Estate Management Unit, which was formed in 1991, has responsibility for all property holdings from this April.

The unit encompasses 112 freehold properties and 350 leasehold properties.

Unit head John Gray said: "We have an important estates portfolio which requires sensitive handling from a legal point of view. We have therefore awarded the contract to two firms who have a proven track record in this specialised area."

Barry Brice, property partner at Pinsents, said: "We are obviously delighted to be acting for the Inland Revenue and are very much marketing in the public service area.

"This is evident by the contract we previously won on behalf of the employment service."