Kent Council courts Mongolian authority
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Kent County Council is sending a delegation to Inner Mongolia’s largest city Baotou in a bid to capture legal work related to future UK inward investment.
Geoff Wild
The local authority’s legal chief Geoff Wild, who pioneered the model of selling legal services to external clients, said Kent’s legal team is looking at ways to provide legal services in the autonomous region of the People’s Republic of China.
“The regional government is looking to invest in UK real estate,” said Wild. “Our local authority is pressing for this engagement and we’re hoping to pick up the legal work associated with that. If they’re going to be buying up land we’d be able to deal with all the issues that arise.”
Wild said that a “vital component” in the strategy was dual-qualified Chinese lawyer Pak Tim Fung, who is a member of Kent’s in-house team.
Wild said there were no plans to launch an office in Baotou any time soon.
Wild launched a legal function in Brussels earlier this year to target countries entering the EU, advising public bodies on EU contracting, procurement and employment law.
Kent was one of the first councils to use the private practice model to increase efficiency and generate revenue for the authority. Wild’s department generated £1.42m in external revenue in the 2008-09 financial year.
Readers' comments (3)
Anonymous | 16-Nov-2009 4:46 pm
In Xanadu (etc)...
Anyone though of trying to flog them the 'other' dome?
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Anonymous | 22-Nov-2009 5:56 pm
My English name is just Kent and i'm in Baotou city, and i think it's a good news we can communicate like this way and just why not launch an office in here, and all will be fine and you will feel the development in here, and know much more about where your money goes and where you can get your money back for sure, and if not sure about the city and i just advise you go to Baidu web to check it out and is one of the fastest cities.
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Anonymous | 3-Aug-2010 4:20 pm
As a Kent County ratepayer, I am not impressed. If Mr Wild wants to play legal empire building, let him join a private practice. Loveharts, perhaps.
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