Bid sees merged firm win National Grid panel place

A TEAM of lawyers at Shakespeare Martineau has been reappointed to National Grid’s roster of UK law firms.

National Grid, one of the largest investorowned utility companies in the world, has downsized its panel of firms for the UK from 17 to 12.

Following a competitive tender process, a 20-strong team of lawyers based in Shakespeare Martineau’s Birmingham, Stratford and London offices will support the utility company on specialist gas and electricity legal work as well as a range of property and planning and corporate services work.

The panel win followed the first competitive tender for the newly merged firm.

Both Shakespeares and SGH Martineau were already on National Grid’s previous legal panel.

Andrew Whitehead, the firm’s senior partner and head of energy and utilities, said: “The tender process required a large degree of collaboration across our teams and offices and, despite the challenge of completing the tender at such an early stage of our business merger, it was great to see our people come together with a shared focus on service delivery and desire to make a memorable difference to one of our strategically important clients.

“Being able to continue to advise and support National Grid, with its pivotal role in the UK energy sector and one of the largest companies in our region, is testament to the strength of our teams across our offices and provides us with a fantastic platform to continue to grow our services to clients in the sector.”

In line with how the legal market is changing, all contracts under National Grid’s new panel arrangements will run for a shorter period of two years with an option to extend for a further two years.