Client Stories

Oceansgate opportunity

Plymouth's Marine Enterprise Zone

Oceansgate Plymouth is a project transforming the disused Ministry of Defence land at Devonport in three phases, creating a purpose-built environment with offices and industrial units designed with the needs of marine and maritime businesses in mind. Oceansgate is the city’s Marine Enterprise Zone and sits within South Yard which is a key part of the new Plymouth and South Devon “freezone”.

The Council needed an experienced team to advise on the procurement of a preferred bidder to design and construct Phase Two. Given members of our team had successfully delivered Phase One the Council instructed us in 2018 to support again.

Plymouth coastline

The Project

The work started in 2018 with the project successfully completed in 2021. The project is one of the key regeneration projects in Plymouth and is central to the development of the city’s marine enterprise zone which underpins part of the South West’s freezone located in Plymouth and South Devon. It was great to be involved in helping to deliver such a key asset to further growth in the region in conjunction with the Council’s instructing officer, James Whitelock.

We were asked to help draft and negotiate the pre-construction and main contract in collaboration with the commercial consultants.

The framework uses a Two Stage Open Book Process to help clients save money and give them peace-of-mind.

The Two Stage Open Book approach is unique in the way it brings the contractor, stakeholders and suppliers together at the very start of a construction project. This early collaboration at the planning and design stage minimises the chance of issues arising later in the project that can drive up costs and cause delays.

The solution and results

The team used this procurement approach on many occasions and were able to help advise the client on the various legal issues that could occur and how best to solve them during the two stages of the project.

In addition to our work with the Council we continue to support the growth of the enterprise zone by our participation in the EU funded Expert Business Support programme for SMEs operating in Oceansgate and wider afield.

Oceansgate

The team at Foot Anstey have been a great support to our business support programme at Oceansgate, we look forward to working with them as the enterprise zone develops.

Emily Collacott Project Coordinator

Foot Anstey

Working to deliver such an economically impactful project was extremely exciting. The team advised Oceansgate and worked collaboratively with all parties to ensure the desired outcome was delivered on time, this was especially important to us as it allows us to strategically support the City where Foot Anstey originated many years ago. Also, our participation in the EU funded Expert Business Support programme for SMEs allows us to share our sector knowledge of working with similar companies across the UK and help those marine support companies grow and develop their businesses.

Brian Hitchcock Legal Director

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