The first awards for PFI work have seen Clifford Chance and Allen & Overy clean up.

The PFI awards, organised by The Lawyer’s sister title, The PFI Report, recognised the most innovative deals struck in the sector over the last year.

Allen & Overy advised on four of the eight winners.

The deals included advising the finance arrangements for the Greenwich Hospital deal, the A1-M1 link road project where it advised the project company, the M6-A74 project in which it advised the completion guarantors and lastly Project Prime, an accommodation project where it advised the banks. Ashurst Morris Crisp also advised on the M6 deal and Lovell White Durrant advised the Department of Social Security in Project Prime.

Clifford Chance also had a good night, advising on three winners. It also won accolades for its work on the Greenwich Hospital deal, where it advised the project team, and the A1-M1 deal, where it advised the senior lenders. In addition, Herbert Smith worked on the Greenwich project and Denton Hall was involved with the A1-M1 deal.

The Hereford and Worcester Integrated Waste Management Scheme won the Local Authorities category for which Clifford Chance advised the project company, with Eversheds and Norton Rose also playing a part.

Other UK winners included Simmons & Simmons, which advised on a helicopter training facility for the Ministry of Defence, together with Dibb Lupton Alsop, Linklaters and Cameron McKenna.

In Scotland, the Falkirk Schools project won an accolade for MacRoberts which advised Falkirk Council, while Biggart Baillie picked up the winner of the IT section for the Highland Council IT services project.

The judging panel for the awards was chaired by Sir Alastair Morton, chairman of the British Railways Board and the Shadow Strategic Rail Authority.

The projects were judged on innovation and value for money.