in review 2008 again

In Review 2008

IntroductionWelcome to the 2008 In Review, Burges Salmon’s annual report.Despite the ongoing economic downturn, 2008 has had plentyof highlights. Whether you are reading this as a client, a friend ofthe firm, a staff member or a potential recruit, we hope that whatyou will see is the pride that we take in our clients, and the qualityof our service delivery.

ContentsHighlights

Our ClientsPage 3

Values, Vision& StrategyPage 4

Private SectorPage 5

Public SectorPage 7

Corporate Turnaroundand Insolvency (CTI)Page 9

Pensions andEmploymentPage 10

NuclearPage 11

EducationPage 12

TransportPage 13

LeisurePage 14

Environment& EnergyPage 15

InternationalPage 17

CSRPage 19

KnowledgeManagementPage 20

StatisticsPage 21

Contact DetailsPage 22

Stephen McNultySenior Partner

Burges Salmon In Review 2008 0201 Burges Salmon In Review 2008

“A firm with ‘national premier-league status’ Burges Salmonmaintains its position.”

Chambers UK 2009

HighlightsBurges Salmon is a national law firm with over 650 personnel (72 partners), offering top quality

technical and legal expertise to both UK and foreign clients.

Mark Shepherd and Liz Dunn

Our focus on excellence and clients has led to many accolades – for example:

NNaattiioonnaall rraannkkiinnggss.........for Construction, Employment, Environment, Health & Safety, Investment Funds, EU & Competition, Private Equity, M&A (sub-£50m),

Local Government, Energy & Natural Resources, PFI/PPP, Agriculture, Pensions, Public Procurement and Rail.

Chambers UK 2009 and Legal 500 directories

7755%% ooff oouurr ppaarrttnneerrss aarree rreeccooggnniisseedd aass LLeeaaddeerrss iinn tthheeiirr ffiieelldd ooff eexxppeerrttiissee......– a higher proportion than in any of our benchmark firms.

Chambers UK 2009

BBeesstt RReeccrruuiitteerr ((NNaattiioonnaall LLaaww FFiirrmm)).........for the third consecutive year.

LawCareers.Net Training & Recruitment Awards

OOnnee ooff tthhee ffiirrsstt UUKK ffiirrmmss.........to measure, publish and pledge to reduce our carbon footprint, aiming to lead by example and –

with other founding members of the Legal Sector Alliance – encourage other firms to do the same.

PPeerrssoonnnneell hhaavvee bbeeeenn sshhoorrttlliisstteedd.........for Knowledge Management Officer, Knowledge Management Team, and Regional IT Director of the Year in 2008.

Legal Technology Awards

PPrriinnccee CChhaarrlleess aappppooiinntteedd eexx SSeenniioorr PPaarrttnneerr,, BBoobb SSmmyytthh,, aass HHRRHH AAmmbbaassssaaddoorr.........for the South West in 2008, in recognition of his leadership and support of environmental

and sustainability initiatives for businesses in the region for well over a decade.

Announced at the Business in The Community Awards for Excellence

As a firm committed to providing a City-style service, but at more

favourable rates, what we offer is a group of individualistic and

creative people who are encouraged to shine and be different.

And that is what makes Burges Salmon distinctive: being different.

Not so much in what we do – like other leading commercial firms we

offer a full range of services with key strengths and depth of advice –

but the way in which we do it.

We believe that existing and potential clients are entitled to take for

granted things like technical expertise and commercial awareness,

so what they increasingly expect from their lawyers is a high degree

of sector knowledge, combined with excellent team work and consistency

of service delivery. These are the hallmarks of the best legal firms.

At Burges Salmon we give our people the freedom, recognition and

support to develop, to grow and to succeed, and to ensure that they

really understand what our clients need in their increasingly competitive

markets. We believe our clients enjoy working with us because we are

balanced, accessible and enthusiastic.

The quality of our clients and the work they bring us are a tribute

to Burges Salmon’s primary asset – its people.

Major Clients include:BNP ParibasCititrustCorusECI PartnersForeign and Commonwealth OfficeFirstGroupHBOSIntercontinental Hotels GroupInternational PowerLloyds TSBMilk LinkMODNationwideNuclear Decommissioning AuthorityOrangeQinetiQRBSStandard Chartered Bank The Crown Estate

Our Clients

We work with some of the world’s most innovative, successful

and high profile companies in a range of industry sectors.

We also help entrepreneurial start-up clients turn ideas into

business. We are continually evolving our approach to client

care and work hard to understand our clients’ businesses.

We identify the issues by getting to know our clients, asking

questions and being approachable. We encourage client

feedback and strive to deliver sound commercial advice, with

total professional commitment.

The diversity of our client base adds to the breadth and depth

of our commercial experience and expertise.

Values, Vision & Strategy

Will MacFarlane and Tim Roberts

Burges Salmon sees its values as a core part

of the firm’s ethos. In 2008 we set up staff

workshops to ascertain whether the firm’s

values are the right ones and if they are being

lived on a day-to-day basis. Agreement that

they are was near unanimous.

Burges Salmon values are:

• Quality

• Commitment

• Loyalty

• Ambition

• Fairness

Enduring relationships grow out of working

together with people and organisations

whose values are compatible with your own.

Whether you are a global multinational, an

innovative local business or a government

body, our commitment to providing excellent

service remains the same: combining

technical excellence with commercial insight

to provide the clearest of answers.

Our vision is to be a firm with a national

practice and compete with the best law firms

in the UK in our chosen markets. We aim to

provide a broad range of excellent services

that exceed our clients’ expectations,

whether they be national or international.

And to achieve this we must continue to

recruit and retain the best lawyers and

support staff.

StrategyTo be the first choice law firm for

clients and staff seeking a real

alternative to City firms.

“My aim is to produce all work to the best of my ability no matter how big or smallthe piece of work or who the client is.”Helen, Secretary, after a ‘Living our Values’ Workshop

Map shows geographical locationof our top UK-based clients.

03 Burges Salmon In Review 2008 Burges Salmon In Review 2008 04

Centaur Grain We advised long standing client Centaur on

its merger with Grainfarmers to establish a

major new grain marketing and input supply

business which is owned and controlled by

British farmers. The new business, branded

Openfield, will handle around 4 million tonnes

of grain (approximately 20% of the UK market)

and will work with over 7,000 farmers. The

main focus for the new business is building

long-term supply chain partnerships in

order to create value for its farmer-owners

and customers.

CODA plcWe advised long standing client, AiM quoted

financial software provider CODA plc, on the

cash offer made in January 2008 by Dutch

rival Unit 4 Agresso NV. The offer, of 205p

per ordinary share, valued CODA at £158m.

Harrogate-based CODA is one of the UK’s

leading providers of financial accounting

software systems, operating in 14 countries

with more than 2,500 customers. Netherlands-

based Unit 4 Agresso is a leading European

provider of ERP software solutions. The

takeover created a top 10 European business

software vendor with revenues in excess of

300m Euros and operations in 19 countries.

Helphire Group Plc Burges Salmon acted for Helphire Group plc

in the Court of Appeal. The test case arose

out of their provision of post-accident services

to the innocent victim of a motor accident,

caused by an uninsured driver. The defendant

was Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB), the body

set up by the insurance industry to administer

such claims in the UK. The ruling that the MIB’s

stance on refusing the claim be referred to the

European Court of Justice has the potential to

affect the whole regime for compensating

victims of uninsured/untraced drivers in the UK.

Sumus Plc We acted for Sumus Plc on its merger, by

way of a High Court scheme of arrangement,

with Lighthouse Group Plc. Both Sumus

(the holding company for the “Falcon”

branded IFA businesses) and Lighthouse

were publically quoted on the London Stock

Exchange’s AiM market and we had acted

for Sumus on its own flotation in February

2005. At a time of rapid consolidation in

the IFA and wealth management sectors,

the merger created one of the largest

autonomous entities in the market for the

provision of independent financial advice,

wealth management and the distribution

of retail financial products in the UK.

Private Sector

We have a wealth of commercial experience. Our private sector clients range from local businesses to

large, multinational corporations. We have provided expertise across a wide range of sectors, including

financial services, real estate & construction, transport, energy & utilities, aerospace & defence,

food & farming, IT & telecoms and leisure. In June we were ranked as one of the top FTSE100

legal advisors by Hemscott, being ranked 11th law firm by number of FTSE100 clients advised.

BNP ParibasBurges Salmon’s funds practice continues to

grow from strength to strength. We recently

advised a specialist fund division of the BNP

Paribas group on its Privalto Stabiliser range

of structured funds. The legal input required

for this project required a unique blend of in-

depth knowledge of the laws and FSA rules

applicable to open-ended investment

companies as well as specialist expertise on

structuring derivatives.

Premier Medical Group

We advised 3i and the individual shareholders

of Medico Legal Reporting in connection with

the merger of Premier Medical Limited and

Medico-Legal Reporting to create the UK’s

largest provider of medical opinions. The

transaction was backed by growth capital

from Nomura Private Equity.

Aviva Investors We were appointed to act for the Cardiff Bay

partnership, a limited partnership fund owned

by Aviva Investors, on all corporate and

property matters relating to its estate. This

comprises £150 million of property in the

newly developed Cardiff Bay area of the city,

including the Welsh Assembly government

offices and debating chamber.

CostainWe advised Costain in its role as design and

build contractor on the £2 billion Greater

Manchester waste management PFI project,

the largest waste management project in

Europe. This involves the construction of 44

facilities and was the company’s biggest ever

single project. We also advised Costain on the

terms of four major technology sub contracts.“A well deserved reputation

in the marketplace”.

Chambers 2009

“BS [corporate] lawyers are lauded for their “professionalism, great understanding of business and willingness to go the extra mile.”

Chambers UK 2009


supplier (IBM UK Ltd). This was the first

project of its kind involving an emergency

services organisation and the deal is

expected to be worth in excess of £500m

over its 10 year lifetime. The deal is seen as

a pathfinder for collaborative procurements

in local government.

The project involved an innovative secondment

structure to protect the position of staff. Burges

Salmon worked with the Police team to create

innovative solutions to a number of key issues

such as the procurement structure and the

provisions relating to information security.

The Crown Estate Whilst continuing as lead advisor to The

Crown Estate on the management of the

regional portfolio and its holdings in St James

and Regents Park in London, Burges Salmon

has advised The Crown Estate on a number

of major commercial property transactions,

including most recently the acquisition of a

portfolio of six multi-tenanted industrial

estates from SEGRO plc for £64.4m and the

acquisition of a 50% share (jointly with Aviva)

in a retail park for £67.7m.

Communities and Local Government We have advised the Department of

Communities and Local Government (CLG)

on the replacement of a pan Governmental

Agreement for the supply of geographic

information to Central Government. We

advised on all aspects of this major public

sector procurement run by CLG on behalf of

200 other Central Government Public Bodies.

There were high profile IP and Governance

issues raised in the course of negotiations,

and this led to us working closely with all the

parties to develop a specifically designed

rights and responsibility agreement and IP

licence arrangement.

Contracts are currently close to signing and are

estimated to be worth £100m over 5 years.

Police and Emergency Services Our market leading Emergency Services

practice continues to be involved in a range

of groundbreaking projects, including acting

for Avon & Somerset Police Authority on

their ground breaking shared services project

(see opposite page), and we were delighted

to be invited to speak at the Association of

Chief Police Officers’ National Convention

in Liverpool.

We were appointed in 2008 to the new

Metropolitan Police Service panel to advise

on ICT, an area of significant importance for

the MPS, particularly in the run up to the

2012 Olympics. We have also been

appointed to the Avon Fire and Rescue

Service Panel.

We continue to advise Firebuy Ltd on a

number of national procurements, and

act for longstanding client London Fire

and Emergency Planning Authority on a

wide range of projects.

We have also acted for a number of other

police forces including Dwfyd Powys and

Devon & Cornwall Police forces.

MoD/DfT

We continued to act on a number of high

profile, complex and operationally critical

transactions for the MoD. For example, we

are advising the MoD and the DfT on the

competitive dialogue process for a PFI

project for the provision of search and rescue

helicopter services from UK bases. This is a

proposed 25 – 30 year contract worth £3 –

£5billion. Our involvement with this process

and other such processes over the last year

led to us being consulted by the OGC over

its recent guidance on competitive dialogues.

We also received new instructions to act for

the MoD on a number of other major projects

including training service simulator projects

for the Future Lynx helicopter and the A400M

transport plane, and were invited to

participate in a project to develop a set of

standard contract templates to be used by

the MoD across their business.

We have also received regular instructions

from DfT on rolling stock and other rail

industry matters.

London Waste and Recycling Board We are the sole legal adviser to the newly

established London Waste and Recycling

Board (“LWaRB”). Chaired by the Mayor of

London, Boris Johnson, the LWaRB will

administer and allocate the London Waste

and Recycling Fund, which comprises

£60 million from government (over three

years) and up to £24 million provided by the

LDA (over three years starting in 2009/10).

Southwest One/Project ISiS We advised our long standing client Avon

and Somerset Police Authority on all aspects

of a ground breaking shared services

procurement deal where a joint venture

company was formed with two local

authorities, the Police Authority and the

“Responsive and

efficient specialists,

who get the job

done well.” Chambers UK 2009

Public Sector

In 2008 we acted on a number of major, path finding transactions in various different sectors and for a

number of different bodies including Central Government, Local Government, emergency services,

higher and further education providers, and non departmental public bodies. We won several

major new clients this year and built successfully on being the only firm outside London to be

accredited by OGCbuying.solutions to all 8 Lots of its legal services panel – Catalist – including

the major projects panel for projects over £100 million. Our work has included collaborative

procurements, strategic procurement advice, PFI/PPP, shared services, education, environmental

projects (including waste), nuclear decommissioning, transport, facilities management, estate

rationalisation and asset management, housing, regeneration, development projects, planning,

carbon reduction and trading, employment, TUPE, pensions, IT projects and IP issues.

Noah Phillips, Amy Watsonand Keith Beattie


Corporate Turnaroundand Insolvency (CTI)Our CTI practice is very active with teams of specialist lawyers from around the firm advising daily

on diverse issues arising from the impact of the credit crunch. Our team advises all parties who

have an interest in distressed business situations including boards of directors, office holders,

lenders, creditors, suppliers and employees.

“This team is said to ‘punch greatly

above its weight’ on complex work.”Chambers 2008

Pensions and EmploymentBurges Salmon has a nationally respected and highly rated pensions team which works with

employers and schemes of all sizes throughout the UK. In 2008 Clive Pugh joined us from the

Pensions Regulator and his regulatory insights have strengthened the team’s expertise.

Our employment team handles the full range of employment work and also advises on all

aspects of discrimination, dealing with employment tribunals and High Court litigation.

Trustee PracticeWe are a nationally recognised independent

trustee practice both in respect of ongoing

schemes, those winding up and also PPF

entry cases. We are a regulator appointed

trustee of the Telent Scheme.

Pensions LitigationWe have been central to some of the highest

profile pension cases of 2008, including

Smithson v Hamilton in respect of correcting

errors in scheme documents, and Foster

Wheeler v Hanley in respect of flexible

retirement. We are also heavily involved in the

pension consequences of the insolvency of

one of Europe’s major airlines.

Avon Rubber We advised the Trustee of the Avon Rubber

Retirement and Death Benefits Plan. This is

a significant scheme with assets of £250m

and a membership of 5,000. Work in 2008

included advice on a scheme apportionment

arrangement and a complete rewrite of the

scheme rules.

QinetiQQinetiQ Ltd came to us for advice on changes

to their pension and enhanced redundancy

terms in light of the introduction of age

discrimination legislation in the UK. We

have also advised QinetiQ on an ongoing

basis regarding TUPE, pensions and age

discrimination issues.

Thomson Reuters We advised the HR and legal teams of

Thomson Reuters on all employment aspects

of the merger of Reuters and Thomson

Finance. This has included advice on

restructuring, harmonisation of terms and

conditions and the review and implementation

of employment documentation.

Standard Chartered BankFollowing the acquisition of American

Express Bank by Standard Chartered Bank,

we have advised the HR and legal teams of

Standard Chartered Bank on the transfer of

employees and the restructuring of the

merged business functions. This has involved

working with senior management on the

design and implementation of the strategy

for the restructuring.

Adrian Martin


Corporate Rescue and Failure

With the deepening economic gloom in 2008

came a desire from the banks to support

corporate turnaround where possible. We

have worked with many company doctors,

banks (we are on the panels of most of the

large British banks) and boards of directors

to save businesses and, sadly where this has

not been possible, we have advised on the

optimum method for the company to cease

trading and best realise its assets. This is

often via administration but also can involve

formal winding up procedures.

In the past year we have been increasingly

advising boards of directors (including listed

plcs) on their options in difficult times including

possible personal liability for “wrongful trading”

and what they can do if they suffer fall out from

the insolvency of others. For example, we have

advised significant suppliers on issues arising

from the collapse of both Woolworths and Zavvi.

It is clear that these issues will only increase in

2009 and that our team will continue to be busy.

Corporate Pre-packs So called “pre-packed” insolvency processes

are becoming the norm to preserve the

viability of businesses. Whilst gaining some

adverse publicity, pre-packs often provide

a better return to creditors than on a

winding-up and ensure the survival of at

least part of the business (and jobs).

Our experience in pre-pack situations, often

involving tax advice in order to maximise the

fiscal advantages of the restructuring

process, has helped companies, banks and

investors through this inevitably stressful

process, and played its part in the survival of

a number of viable businesses.

Property and ConstructionThe downturn has significantly affected the

property sector which led to a resurgence of

LPA receiverships in 2008. We have advised on

the restructuring of property portfolios involving

refinancing, sale and management issues faced

by lenders and office holders where property

is held for the longer term. Recent work

has included multi-million pound buy-to-let

portfolios, commercial investment properties,

nursing homes and residential developments.

Distress in the property sector has revealed

fraud, and valuer and solicitor negligence,

leading to claims which are enhancing

lenders’ prospects of making recoveries.

Our experienced team of litigators led by

partners who were involved in similar claims in

the 1990s, is advising lenders on these claims.

In the construction sector we have assisted

clients dealing with the fall-out following the

collapse of key contractors and with projects

which have stalled because of problems with

joint venture partners and funding issues.

Nuclear DecommissioningAuthority

We act for the NDA on their asset use

programme, as well as their innovative plans

for the disposal (whether by sale or lease) of

surplus land at a number of key sites.

The work has entailed strategic advice on

property planning, nuclear and environmental

law, procurement and various other legal

disciplines. It has recently taken on particular

significance given the government’s priority for

facilitating new nuclear build and with the

acquisition of British Energy by EDF of France.

We identified a resource issue within the NDA

and this resulted in some property-related

instructions. We have provided property

secondees and identified a team which now

supports some of the NDA’s Nuclear Estate

projects. Covering 18,000 acres, the wide

remit ranges from first registration projects

and management of the nuclear industrial

estates at Harwell and Winfrith, to the sale of

an hotel. The biggest project to date is the

disposal of sites at Bradwell, Oldbury and

Wylfa which are likely to be used for a new

wave of electricity generation.

BS Specialists At the centre of the firm’s pure nuclear law

capability is a dedicated ‘core’ team of six

nuclear specialists. Pure nuclear work is

broken down into the following four core

practice areas covering each phase of the

nuclear plant life cycle:

• Decommissioning and Operational

• Waste

• New Build

• International Regulatory and Governmental

The team was further strengthened with the

strategic appointment of Anthony Wetherall.

Anthony joined after seven years at the IAEA

Office of Legal Affairs, where he advised on

wide-ranging international nuclear law issues,

including safety, security and liability. His

extensive service on the IAEA International

Expert Group (Nuclear Liability) and his

extensive knowledge on international nuclear

liability instruments, provides clients with a

valuable resource particularly on setting up

national nuclear legislative and regulatory

frameworks, and advising on infrastructural

issues arising from new build programmes.

Our cross-departmental Education Group has continued to grow during 2008 both in terms of

expertise and lawyer numbers. We advise significant numbers of clients across the entire

Education sector, but the scope of major projects work undertaken for Higher Education clients

in 2008 has been particularly noteworthy.

Nuclear Education

Clients describe Burges Salmon as “nothing short of outstanding,” and areimpressed that it “still recognises the importance of the local market,” despitethe fact that it also operates nationally.

Chambers UK 2009

Our nuclear law team has grown over the past decade to become one of only a handful of

nationally-recognised expert nuclear practices. The team, headed by Ian Salter (one of the UK’s,

and increasingly Europe’s, top nuclear lawyers) has a broad portfolio of nuclear clients (public and

private sector), providing both ‘pure’ nuclear law and multi-disciplinary nuclear-related legal advice.

As the sector expands globally and our domestic nuclear power-generating capability is shared

worldwide, the Burges Salmon specialist team is well placed to build on current experience and

transfer it to the emerging international marketplace, where it will be equally applicable and

valuable long in to the future.


Exeter UniversityWe were appointed to the university’s

property panel in 2008 and act as sole

adviser on its flagship Forum Project,

a £50m redevelopment of the centre of

its main Streatham Campus.

Bath Spa University

We have advised a number of Higher Education

bodies on property and commercial aspects

of non-integrated campus relocations, which

for Bath Spa University involved the sale and

lease-back of an entire Georgian crescent

in Bath and the drafting of an appropriate

profit-sharing agreement. We have also

advised the University on an agreement for

development of student accommodation,

involving complex nomination rights.

Carbon Reduction CommitmentWe provide briefing notes specific to the

education sector on the carbon reduction

commitment, a proposed mandatory UK

emissions trading scheme being introduced

for large public and private sector

organisations whose electricity usage

exceeds relevant thresholds.

Imperial College London For the past 4 years we have been advising

on the decommissioning of the College’s

nuclear reactor and facilities, involving

strategic planning, procurement and state

aid, employment, commercial and property

as well as nuclear law advice around fuel,

waste, transport and liability. We also advised

the College on staff and Board liability issues

including the impact of the recent Corporate

Manslaughter legislation. This led to our recent

instruction to advise on a major review of its

governance and constitutional framework as

well as that of the associated Imperial NHS

Trust and a proposed joint venture.

Bristol UniversityWe have advised longstanding client Bristol

University on a wide range of legal issues

including a major student accommodation

project and various property acquisitions.

We provide day to day employment and

diversity advice to the University which has

included the successful defence of a number

of complex Employment Tribunal cases.

We have also advised on the harmonisation

of employee terms and conditions of

employment and the review of their

employment contracts and policies.

We actively encourage partnering

arrangements with the University including

running a joint pro bono law clinic,

participating in the Bristol Enterprise Network

and holding open days for their students.

Pontin’s

A cross-firm team from Burges Salmon’s

corporate, property and finance units advised

on the recent acquisition of Pontin’s, for

£46m, by investment and management

company Ocean Parcs. With experience and

knowledge of the leisure, consumer and

property development industries, the new

owners plan to re-vitalise Pontin’s,

recognising that more and more eco-

and budget-conscious holiday makers

are looking to UK destinations for

family vacations.

Royal Armouries

We have been appointed to provide legal

advice to Royal Armouries, Britain’s oldest

museum, on matters spanning a range of

legal disciplines, including the placement of

contracts for the design, build and installation

of various exhibitions, and brand protection

issues. Our role (which will last for at least

three years) for this important charity has

also seen us advising on a significant

re-development of Royal Armouries’ Fort

Nelson site, setting up a ground-breaking

partnering arrangement with another charity

(Historic Royal Palaces, with whom Royal

Armouries shares the site at the Tower of

London), and helping to ensure compliance

with applicable procurement law.

Weston PierWe acted for AGM Holdings plc on its

acquisition of Grand Pier Limited (“GPL”),

the company which owns the 104 year old

Grand Pier in Weston-super-Mare. We are

now advising GPL on the aftermath of the

fire that destroyed the Grand Pier’s Pavilion

on the morning of 28 July 2008 and the

rebuilding process. This includes assisting

GPL with its consultation and liaison with a

significant number of interested parties

including North Somerset Council, Natural

England, English Heritage (on the Grade II

listed status of the destroyed Pavilion) and

the people of Weston-super-Mare. At the

time of writing a planning application is

imminent and AGM Holdings plc’s owners

hope to open a newly reconstructed pier in

the Summer of 2010.

2008 has seen a significant expansion of our expertise in the Leisure sector. We are currently

acting for clients with interests in camping, caravan and holiday parks, hotels, restaurants,

pubs, clubs, garden centres, visitor attractions, sports stadia, racecourses, marinas and piers.

Transport

Burges Salmon has been involved with the transport industry for over 20 years, during which

time we have advised a wide range of bus, rail and aviation clients. 2008 was another strong

year, especially for our Rail Group who, as well as working on a number of key industry

projects, also won significant new instructions from some of the industry’s household names.

Leisure

“Rail remains dominated by larger City firms, which can offer the corporate muscle and projects expertise to handle substantial procurement and infrastructure instructions. Burges Salmon LLP is an exception to the rule, regularly winning top-drawer

instructions away from its City rivals.” Chambers 2009


Alstom Transport

First instructed by Alstom in 2007 in relation

to London Underground fleet, in 2008 we

advised on the £1.5 billion project to

lengthen and strengthen the Pendolino high

speed fleet operated by Virgin West Coast.

Four new trains, with at least 35 of the

enlarged fleet of 56 trains lengthened to

11-car formation, will provide an additional

7,240 seats by 2012. A new maintenance

contract for the fleet will extend until March

2022. Our relationship with Alstom arose

from working opposite each other on a

number of major rolling stock matters

since privatisation.

Translink/NI Railways Public transport in Northern Ireland is

still operated by the Northern Ireland

government, through an integrated public

transport body known as Translink. In 2002

Translink acquired a fleet of 23 diesel multiple

units for use by Northern Ireland Railways.

Our Rail Group has been appointed by NIR

to their ‘New Trains Two Project’, for the

procurement of a further 20 new DMUs.

In making the appointment NIR/Translink

commented on the very real additional

value they perceived would flow from our

involvement with the project given our

extensive experience of rolling stock

procurements for Great Britain’s railway.

Eurostar

Our Autumn 2008 appointment by Eurostar to

provide specialist rail regulatory advice was a

further acknowledgement of the Rail Group’s

market leading expertise. As the principal train

operator on ‘High Speed 1’ and the provider

of passenger services in three countries,

Eurostar operates in a unique regulatory

environment on networks owned and operated

by infrastructure managers in the UK, France

and Belgium. We will work on a business-wide

review of the regulatory, access and charging

regimes which apply to this unique railway,

regimes which, whilst having served well

through the construction phase of the Channel

Tunnel Rail Link, must now be fit for purpose

for the ongoing operational phase.

International Power plc

In 2008 we advised International Power

on a joint development agreement with

West Coast Energy Limited in relation to

the financing and development of at least

10 wind farms across the UK. These 10

projects will, if consented, produce up to

140MW of renewable energy, enough to

power 78,000 homes in the UK.

Helius Energy plc Our relationship with Helius Energy plc

(‘Helius’) continues to strengthen. One of

the year’s highlights was advising on its

Stallingborough biomass power project.

We assisted Helius throughout the project,

initially in early contract negotiations to bring

the project together and then advising on its

successful sale to RWE Innogy.

The sale transaction value for this 65MW

(Net) renewable electricity generating station

was £28m. Supported by Burges Salmon,

Helius will use the anticipated £20m sale

profits to fund further pipeline projects.

Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks described

the Stallingborough project as an important

step in tackling climate change, securing

energy and ‘powering a greener,

cleaner UK’.

Canatxx The Environmental and Planning teams have

won a mandate to advise American energy

company Canatxx on the consenting of the

UK’s largest proposed on-shore gas storage

project in Fleetwood, Lancashire. Gas will

be stored in caverns in natural salt beds.

The project will involve applying for a number

of high profile planning permissions and

environmental consents, over the next

few years.

The Carbon Trust We advised the Carbon Trust, the leading

UK authority on carbon reduction, on

launching the Carbon Trust Standard: the

world’s first award scheme for organisations

that have taken action on climate change by

genuinely reducing their carbon footprint.

The Carbon Trust Standard complements

the Carbon Reduction Label scheme,

on which we also advised. This scheme

focuses on consumer goods and services

and encourages companies to measure

and reduce the carbon footprint of

their products.

Tony Stockwell, Head of Legal at the

Carbon Trust said:

“Burges Salmon have successfully steered

us through the intricacies of trade mark law

and product labelling legislation with their

timely and practical advice enabling us to

launch and develop the schemes to an

extremely tight timetable.”

Environment& EnergyBurges Salmon has developed a pre-eminent reputation as legal advisors to those in the environmental

sector and through this the energy sector on technologies linked to the environment and climate

change, such as renewable energy.

2008 saw us develop some landmark projects and lead on a number of important legal

proceedings. Our team advises on issues including pure environmental regulation, defending

environmental prosecutions, environmental civil litigation and toxic torts, advice on carbon law

and trading and the consenting, development, build out and ultimate project financing of

environmental projects such as large and small scale waste treatment and recycling projects and

wind, wave, tidal, biomass and biofuels projects. Our pre-eminence in the sector has attracted a

number of major multi-national companies and utilities to turn to us for advice.

“Ross Fairley’s team

is the only real

alternative to the

City in this sector”. Legal 500, 2008

The Environment Team is praised for its “outstandingcommitment to environment law” which “gives City firms a real run for their money”.

Chambers UK, 2009

Chris Pritchett, Michael Barlow,

Suzanne Padmore and Georgie Messent


NuonWe advised Nuon UK Limited in successfully

navigating the complicated Forestry Commission

Wales and the Welsh Assembly Government

procedures for procurement of proposed wind

farm sites. The procurement lasted over a year

and ended with our client being awarded two

strategic search areas within which to obtain

planning and build out for large scale wind farm

projects. The successful build out of these

projects will go a long way to helping Wales

achieve its renewable energy targets. We

continue to work with Nuon in developing

these projects and our advice to date has

included planning, property, procurement,

construction and grid connection advice.

The proposed Pen Y Cymoedd project will

have a capacity of up to 300MW, making it one

of the largest wind farms ever built in the UK.

Legal Sector Alliance

The Legal Sector Alliance is an inclusive

movement of law firms committed to taking

collaborative action to tackle climate change,

established in October 2007. Burges Salmon

has been an active founding member of the

LSA and we firmly believe that law firms

will make better progress by sharing best

practice and information rather than

acting alone.

We were part of the Carbon Footprint

Protocol working group, which developed

the first sector specific carbon footprint

measurement tool which has been launched

across the profession.

We have adopted the LSA climate change

principles and these will be applied to the

working practices across the firm.

Foreign andCommonwealth OfficeWe closed a high profile international

outsourcing deal for the FCO advising on a

major Facilities Management shared services

procurement for the FCO’s UK Home Estate

and 14 diplomatic missions in Europe.

A cross firm team from Burges Salmon

worked closely with our European better

friend international referral relationship firms

across 12 jurisdictions; such firms included

Claeys & Engels, Nörr Stiefenhofer Lutz and

Wardynski & Partners.

The deal was worth £70m over 7 years with a

possible 3 year extension. The deal is forecast

to generate significant savings for the FCO and

is also structured so that other Government

Departments can participate, consistent with

Government policy to encourage collaborative

procurements, and generating savings on

overall procurement costs.

Bounty Group Burges Salmon worked closely with ECI

and the management team of Bounty on

its disposal to Kaboose Inc, the largest

independent family focused online media

company in North America, for £70m.

Burges Salmon worked with ECI Partners

LLP, a long standing client, on the original

management buy out of Bounty in December

2004. We worked closely with Gowling

Lafleur Henderson in Canada on

the disposal to Kaboose, with Stikeman

Elliot acting for Canadian-listed Kaboose.

Corus

Over the last year we have continued to act

for the steel producer Corus on a wide range

of international matters, including advising on

tenders for the supply of materials to major

oil and gas projects in countries such as

Nigeria, Angola, Egypt, Australia, Malaysia,

Indonesia, Brazil and China and contracts

for the supply of engineering services in

India and Mexico.

Yahsat

We continue to advise the United Arab

Emirates Armed Forces on the

groundbreaking Yahsat satellite

communications project. Having gained

substantial expertise when advising the UK

Ministry of Defence on the MoD’s £3.5 billion

Skynet 5 military satellite contract that closed

in December 2005, we have been able to

apply our experience and knowledge in an

international context as the project is

modelled on a UK PPP structure.

International

2008 has seen a significant upturn in the amount of cross-border and international related

transactions the firm has been involved with. We have coordinated advice across multiple

jurisdictions and some of our largest clients have been referred to international firms with whom

we have developed better friend relationships. While international work is a core component of

the firm’s corporate finance practice, we have seen a large spread of international work across

a number of specialist areas, including banking, property, employment, pensions, projects,

intellectual property, environment and energy.

We are making a significant investment in developing the relationships with our better friend firms

to ensure that our clients are provided with the same priority and quality of service that they expect

from Burges Salmon.

“As with every aspect of our strategy, our approach is client-led. It is based upon a client’s needs to access lawyers overseas as and when they are investing in orhave concerns in jurisdictions outside the UK.”

“We play a pivotal role in co-ordinating

the service our clients receive.”


Barclays WealthBurges Salmon was tasked with producing

detailed training for all Barclays Wealth’s

advisers dealing with resident but non-domiciled

(RND) clients. Barclays Wealth has over 300

advisers in this area with more than 7,500

relationship-managed clients and over

35,000 total RND clients – based all over

the world. The aim of the training is to make

Barclays a centre of excellence in providing

banking and wealth management services

to RND clients – bringing them up to speed

on the fundamental changes introduced by

Finance Act 2008 Schedule 7. We have

provided online training modules for Barclays

Wealth’s internal e-learning system, a range

of multiple choice questions and face-to-face

training sessions.

This has involved working closely with the

UAE Armed Forces team in its negotiations

with Al Yah Satellite Communications Company

(Yahsat), a wholly owned subsidiary of the

UAE government’s strategic investment

and development vehicle Mubadala

Development Company.

With the industry now generating revenue in

the region of US$80 billion annually, this is

an exciting time for Burges Salmon to be

involved in this growing, global business.

Following this appointment, Burges Salmon

can now legitimately claim to be one of the

worlds leading legal advisers in this sector.

At Burges Salmon, we believe that ready access to legal and business information is essential

for a high quality legal service. We also see knowledge-building and sharing as an important part

of our client partnership ethos and welcome the chance to develop a collaborative approach

with clients in this area.

Since the early 1990s Burges Salmon has been committed to pursuing business in a

responsible manner, and supporting the communities in which we work and live. In 2008 Prince

Charles appointed our CSR champion, ex-Senior Partner Bob Smyth, as HRH Ambassador for

the South West 2008, in recognition of his leadership and support of environmental and

sustainability initiatives in the region for well over a decade. A new team has taken up the mantle

of supporting and promoting our CSR initiatives, ensuring that our social, environmental and

ethical standards match the high quality of our legal services. Knowledge Management

“From willing volunteers for the leg wax to keen

cyclists and rowers I know that many staff have

given a lot of time and effort to make the

partnership a success – thank you very much.”

Jane Atkinson, The Jessie May Trust

The management of our Knowledge and Know How is a vital part of the service we offer to clients.

Corporate SocialResponsibility

Supporting Our Clients’ Businesses Effective support and ready access to

knowledge are essential for our lawyers to

deliver a professional service to clients.

Our lawyers are leaders in their field in a

wide range of business sectors, both at an

individual and team level, and knowledge

sharing ensures that our legal teams provide

top quality, tailored advice and keep abreast

of legal developments, to better support our

clients’ businesses.

Clients can also access Burges Salmon’s

knowledge and information expertise directly

and we have recently advised a key client on

knowledge management to support its

business objectives.

State of the Art KnowledgeManagement System We appreciate the importance of

understanding how our clients utilise know

how and have invested in our market leading

KM System (GateWest New Media’s

Autonomy-based ‘University in a Box’), which

is also used by organisations such as BAE

and ABN AMRO.

The intuitive capability of the KM System has

opened up access to our know how and

significantly increased use of the firm’s

excellent range of major legal and specialist

sector resources. It has also enabled Burges

Salmon to speed up delivery of high quality

professional services to clients.

The Knowledge Management Team The firm’s strength and depth is reflected

in its KM team who support and encourage

our lawyers’ wide range of knowledge

building and sharing activities, e.g.

workshops, podcasts, webinars, etc.

We have Professional Support Lawyers

(PSLs) to support each sector or

department. The firm also employs a team

of professional librarians and has Knowledge

Partners and a highly qualified central team

including a Director of Development and

Know How, a Head of KM/IS and a

KM Executive.

Burges Salmon’s knowledge team and PSLs

have contributed to industry-wide discussion

fora and speak at national KM conferences.

Our Head of KM, Carol Aldridge, won the

Legal Technology Awards ‘Regional KM

Officer of the Year’ category for 2008, is

short-listed for ‘National KM Officer of the

Year’ in 2009, and our KM Team for

‘National Team of the Year’.

Gail McDonald, Clare Whitt,Richard Field, Carol Aldridgeand Norris Riley


Pro BonoOur Pro Bono support for the University of

Bristol Law Clinic was shortlisted in 2008 for

a LawWorks Pro Bono Award. LawWorks is

the operating name of the Solicitors Pro

Bono Group – an independent charity with a

mission to support, promote and encourage

a commitment to pro bono across the

solicitors’ profession. For the past seven

years we have hosted an interviewing skills

training event for the first year law students

who have joined the Law Clinic. Since 2006

our role has expanded and now includes

providing sessions covering research and

drafting skills. Trainees, professional support

lawyers and support staff all give willingly of

their time – at weekends and evenings – to

deliver the training.

The Jessie May Trust

The firm’s Charity of the Year 2008 has been

The Jessie May Trust. Based in Kingswood,

Bristol, it provides respite care for terminally

ill children in their own homes. The Bristol to

Paris Bike ride raised over £20,000 which is

sufficient to provide 4 families with respite

visits for the whole year. The firm raised a

total of £55,000 over the course of the

fundraising year which makes it the biggest

corporate donation received by the charity.

Burges Salmon Environmental Policy In June 2008 we adopted a new Environmental

Policy demonstrating our commitment to

improving our environmental performance in

three significant areas: use of resources;

waste generation and travel. To achieve our

commitment we have conducted Switch Off

campaigns, reduced paper use by moving to

primarily electronic filing systems, increased

recycling facilities and we support an active

Bike Users Group.

DiversityAs part of our commitment to recruiting

people from a wide range of backgrounds,

we are attending law fairs at a wider spread

of universities. We are also developing

community links and holding open days

for pupils from a more diverse range of

schools across Bristol. We have been

undertaking diversity surveys since 2006,

publish the results, and our Diversity

Committee uses them to identify further

areas to be addressed.

Statistics

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

Partners

72

64

63

57

54

All Personnel

670

550

512

485

464

Staff Numbers

Fee Income (£million, year ending April)

Manufacturing& Other

23%

Financial Services25%

Real Estate & Construction

11%

Transport10%

IT & Telecoms5%

Leisure5%

Food & Farming5%

Aerospace & Defence7%

Energy & Utilities9%

Top 250 Clients by sector

ContactDetailsBristolNarrow Quay HouseNarrow QuayBristolBS1 4AH

Phone: 0117 939 2000Fax: 0117 902 4400Email: [email protected] Address: 7829 Bristol

LondonChancery Exchange10 Furnival StreetLondonEC4A 1AB

Phone: +44 (0) 20 7685 1200Fax: +44 (0) 20 7685 1266Email: [email protected] Address: 361 Chancery Lane, London

www.burges-salmon.com

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21 Burges Salmon In Review 2008

in review 2008 again

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