Lawyers at regional legal and professional services business, Knights, are celebrating after a Slough business secured victory in the High Court in London.
Knights acted on behalf of Sharpsmart Limited, a Slough-based provider of clinical waste disposal services which has offices across the UK, in fending off a challenge over NHS contracts.
Over the past 12 months, 24 NHS Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) put out to tender contracts for the provision of healthcare waste collection and disposal services in primary care settings.
The contracts were for five years and were said by the current providers to have a combined value in the region of £168m. There was additionally an option to extend the contracts by up to a further four years. Accordingly, this is believed to have been the largest ever clinical waste procurement in the UK.
Sharpsmart bid on 17 contracts – winning 13. However, these awards were challenged by the incumbent service provider who claimed the procurement process had been defective. This challenge led to the suspension of the awards in line with the Public Contracts Procurement Regulations 2015.
After a two-day hearing in London at the end of last month, Mr Justice Waksman ordered the suspensions be lifted following a successful application by the ICBs and after considering evidence and submissions from the incumbent provider, the ICBs and “interested party” Sharpsmart.
Speaking following the outcome, Knights Partner, Michael Peacock, said: “We’re delighted to help our client with this landmark procurement in which success was a vital part of its future strategy. I anticipate that this is going to be a real springboard for its future growth and we are excited to see how the business continues to develop and flourish.”
Neil Robinson, who oversees Sharpsmart’s business in the UK, said: “Sharpsmart today welcomed the Court’s decision to lift the suspension on the NHS contract award, allowing the partnership to proceed and deliver significant sustainability, financial and efficiency benefits for healthcare waste management across the 13 ICBs originally awarded to Sharpsmart.
“We would like to extend our sincere thanks to our legal team Knights for their advice, professionalism, and strategic guidance throughout this process. Their meticulous case management and selection of exceptional counsel were instrumental in achieving this outcome.
“This judgment represents a fair and positive step forward, one that supports the NHS in advancing its environmental and operational goals while ensuring best value and innovation across its ICB services.”
The Knights team was spearheaded by Michael Peacock, Lindi Smith and Matthew Ross. Rhodri Williams KC and Tom Walker of Keating Chambers were also instructed.
