Panel reviews

Private equity giant EQT gears up for panel review

Private equity giant EQT is set to review its roster of external advisers this year in M&A, with changes expected in how the panel is structured. Swedish-headquartered EQT has a three-year long panel that comes to an end in mid-2024. The Lawyer has learnt that EQT is lining up to renegotiate its roster, with plans to reduce […]

Kirin Kalsi, Eon

Eon scraps sole provider model with refreshed three-firm panel

Energy supplier Eon has awarded three panel spots this year in its first tender process since 2018. DLA Piper and Shakespeare Martineau are the two firms to have won places alongside longstanding incumbent Pinsent Masons. The trio are collaborating under a comprehensive five-year agreement that kicked off in January 2024. According to Eon, they will […]

Nomura-backed Laser Digital unveils first panel

Four core firms have won places on the inaugural legal panel of Laser Digital, a digital asset business backed by Nomura. The company has named Allen & Overy, Simmons & Simmons, Ashurst, and Jones Day to its roster. Ehsan Haque, head of legal and compliance UK at Laser Digital, ran the panel process with input […]

BT tower

BT sets tech challenge for firms in panel retender

Firms are pitching to retain – or win a place – on BT Group’s roster, as the telecoms giant pledges to reappoint the team that delivers the greatest technology efficiencies. The guaranteed reappointment follows BT’s last panel review in which the corporate said it would automatically rehire its most diverse legal adviser. As a result, […]

BLM’s 25-year Warburtons relationship disintegrates after Clydes merger

Clyde & Co has been replaced by Warburtons as the bakery’s primary provider of employee personal injury and motor injury claims. The work was taken over by Kennedys as of the start of this month. BLM had conducted this work for 25 years before being replaced by a team at Clydes following the £700m merger between […]

sainsburys

Sainsbury’s reappoints firms to eight-strong panel

Longstanding incumbents Linklaters, CMS and Dentons have kept hold of their panel spots following Sainsbury’s review of its roster. DAC Beachcroft and Herbert Smith Freehills, which were first appointed in 2020, have also maintained their position on the roster. Three other firms were reselected: Morton Fraser, TLT and Winckworth Sherwood. Nick Grant, director of legal […]

NatWest

Panel places up for grabs in NatWest review

NatWest, which this year has been engulfed in a scandal over Nigel Farage’s bank account, has asked firms to pitch for a place on its legal panel. The Lawyer understands that the financial institution commenced the process after the summer. A panel review was always due for this year, with around 10 to 20 firms […]

NHS

Addleshaws, Deloitte and Eversheds among NHS panel winners

Eight firms have been replaced with new advisers on a 28-strong NHS panel valued at £200m. NHS Shared Business Services (SBS) has announced which firms have made it onto its legal framework. The 28 appointments are divvied up between 11 different lots covering areas including employment, property and legal recovery. The firms to have come […]

Cadent Gas adds two firms to refreshed panel

Cadent Gas, which split from National Grid seven years ago, has updated its legal panel by reappointing five firms and adding on two more. The National Grid offshoot has given first-time places to Addleshaw Goddard and DWF. Both have been appointed onto the general services lot for Cadent, while Addleshaws has additionally won a spot […]

BT tower

BT rewards diversity contest winner with panel spot

Three years after pledging to reward a panel firm for its diversity efforts, BT has made good on its promise and automatically reappointed one of its advisers. BT Group has crowned Addleshaw Goddard as having the best diversity and inclusion (D&I) track record among its existing legal panel, which automatically wins the firm a spot […]

Tesco

DWF wins coveted Tesco panel place – as BCLP clings on

After nearly a decade of working with a single provider, Tesco has brought a second firm onto its property panel in its latest review. Traditionally reliant on Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner for real estate advice, the UK retailer has appointed DWF to advise on general asset management of Tesco’s property portfolio of over 3,000 stores. […]

Scotland flag

Eight firms win spots on Scottish Government panel

The Scottish Government has refreshed and reduced the size of its legal panel, with eight firms making the cut.  Scottish independents Harper Macleod and Anderson Strathern are among the firms that have been reappointed to the panel, which will run between 2023 and 2027.  There are six lots in total and Harper Macleod has been […]