Member Article

WBD advises Northumberland County Council on £43m learning and leisure campus

Law firm Womble Bond Dickinson (WBD) has advised Northumberland County Council on the development of a multi-million-pound learning and leisure campus in Ponteland.

The construction of the £43 million campus is now complete and comprises of a 52-place nursery, 420-pupil primary school and 1,600-pupil secondary school, all on the same site, alongside a state-of-the-art leisure centre, café, sports bar and library. The facility opened its doors on Tuesday 3 November welcoming students back after the half-term break.

A multidisciplinary WBD team advised on the project led, on the construction side, by partner Simon Rowland and chartered legal executive Helen Coxon and, on the projects and procurement side, by partner Iain Greenshields and associates Peter Cantwell and Nicholas Moss.

Simon Rowland, partner and head of WBD’s Construction and Engineering team, commented: “Helping our clients to support the North East community and economy is an important strategic goal for WBD. We’re thrilled to have supported Northumberland County Council so it could provide the community of Ponteland with this ground-breaking scheme, which is the first of its kind in the country and one of the council’s largest ever capital programmes. Our ability to provide a multidisciplinary, full legal service, as well as our understanding of the client and the local market, meant we were able to secure the best possible outcome for the council.”

Cllr Guy Renner-Thompson, Cabinet Member with responsibility for Northumberland County Council’s Children’s Services said: “The council is committed to investing in its communities with this project being part of a wider £142m investment in Northumberland’s schools and an additional £65m countywide investment programme to upgrade and transform sport and leisure facilities. We’re very grateful to the WBD team for their expert legal advice on this matter, being able to rely on a local team of lawyers, from a large international firm, with the right regional know how, has been key for us.”

Ranking in the UK’s Top 20 law firms, WBD advises clients across eleven sectors of expertise and also works closely with UK local and central government bodies, as well as other organisations in the wider public and third sector. The firm is a Tier 1 member of the Crown Commercial Service government legal advisory panel, providing a full-service of legal expertise across a range of disciplines, including general commercial, litigation and employment advice to a number of Government Departments, Agencies and arms-length bodies. WBD is also a member of the equivalent panel for wider public sector bodies advising local and combined authorities, NHS Trusts and universities across the country.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Womble Bond Dickinson LLP .