Our lawyers review, interpret, draft and negotiate a wide variety of commercial contracts in different sectors on behalf of a range of clients from start-ups to FTSE 100 companies and other global groups.

The scale of our expertise covers the full scope of commercial work, from giving a view on enforceability of a particular clause through to major deals involving a team of lawyers committed to the project for a number of months.  Relevant aspects of our work are described below.

Many of our commercial lawyers also offer specialist knowledge of key legal areas such as intellectual property and competition law.  This enables us to provide commercial advice in context, with an eye to protecting our clients' brands and avoiding the pitfalls of anti-trust infringement.

Product and service supply agreements

Central to our commercial contract practice are the principal trading contracts associated with the supply of goods and services, including standard terms and conditions of sale/purchase, long term supply agreements, framework trading agreements, agency agreements, distribution agreements and franchise agreements. 

Technology and Outsourcing

We advise on major technology acquisitions and outsourcing projects. In assisting clients to structure complex transactions, we can support the entire procurement process through vendor selection, contract drafting, negotiation and post contract support. We advise on a wide range of outsourcing projects from technology and telecoms to back-office processes such as customer management, HR and finance.

Many of our projects have had international dimensions including recent global data centre and telecommunications projects for a multinational bank and an international systems implementation project for a major chemicals company.

Clients and experience
Recent experience includes:

• advising Arla Foods on the acquisition of all major plant and technology required on the construction of Europe's most advanced dairy facility, including contracts for processing plant, bottle manufacturing and supply, filling equipment and cleaning and hygiene
  
• acting for MyTravel Group plc on a joint venture and associated outsourcing of aircraft maintenance
  
• advising a FTSE 100 food sector client in connection with a wide range of commercial agreements including providing general overflow support  and a telephone helpline
  
• acting for British Airways in relation to a wide range of commercial issues including marketing agreements, technology procurement, sponsorship and precedent development
  
• drafting and negotiating a suite of agreements for warehousing and distribution for the UK subsidiary of one of the largest confectionery companies in the world), based on a hubbed system and including some shared IT systems