A Cumbrian law firm is celebrating one of its client’s winning contracts worth more than £4million.

Collaboration and joint ventures are becoming ever more prevalent for SMEs looking to combine their skills and expertise to bid for major industry contracts across a range of sectors.

To meet the needs of those awarding the contracts and to make successful bids, specific legal frameworks often need to be set in place between the businesses that are collaborating.

Cartmell Shepherd Solicitors, which has offices in Carlisle, Brampton and Haltwhistle, recently supported McMenon Engineering Services with the legal framework underpinning its NWEC Alliance with TIS Cumbria Ltd.

McMenon chief executive Anand Puthran recently announced that the NWEC Alliance had secured two major contract wins, worth more than £4million with Programme and Project Partners (PPP) at Sellafield.

Anand said: “This is a ringing endorsement for the skills and quality within McMenon and TIS Cumbria Ltd and it puts us firmly among the top manufacturing companies servicing the civil nuclear sector in West Cumbria and across the wider UK.

“When McMenon acquired the Workington factory back in 2018 we highlighted diversification into Sellafield infrastructure projects as a key objective – and now we are delivering on that promise.”

Sam Lyon, Cartmell Shepherd’s head of corporate and commercial, said: “We work with a business to make sure it is clear who will be responsible for what. Is a new joint venture company to be formed for the bid or will the collaborating businesses remain separate and enter into a contractual joint venture?

“In order to have a chance to win bids, it’s vital that this work is done upfront.

“Those awarding the contracts need to be able to understand the legal relationship and also see it captured clearly in a suitable legal document.

“We worked with McMenon to make sure that was the case for NWEC Alliance, ensuring they and TIS Cumbria met the requirements of the Programme within the necessary timescales.

“We made sure we put in place all those structures to keep all the partners happy and allow them to progress smoothly, which it is great to see has resulted in the recent £4million contract win.”

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