Contract variation of Legal Services for New Nuclear

Linklaters provide all commercial legal advice to the New Nuclear a critical enabler to the financing / technical / policy and investment workstreams of this complex and fast paced project. Linklaters have supported the project since its inception and their experience on similar projects (including the Thames Tideway Tunnel which was funded through a regulated asset base (RAB), which is the approach for the SZC project), expertise in the nuclear sector and corporate knowledge/experience of the project and its multiple workstreams / stakeholders makes them a critical enabler for project success. Linklaters are intrinsically involved in multiple concurrent and planned negotiations and workstreams, and it is not feasible or desirable to extricate them at this critical juncture. The introduction of a new supplier would disrupt sensitive negotiations, and the read-in time and background would be significant.

Under PCR 2015 Regulation 72(1b) (ii) which permits 50% of the original contract value to be varied (£5,000,000 ex- VAT). This will ensure consistent support to the project through the capital raise process and provide enough time to consider longer term procurement / commercial positions in more detail.