Business profile
As a specialist legal adviser to the rail sector, Burges Salmon LLP will be there to support the industry as it rises to meet its latest challenges
S
ir Roy McNulty’s view, summarised in the Foreword to the Report of the Rail Value for Money Study, May 2011,
that ‘There is a need for the industry to earn its ‘licence to grow’ so that the opportunities that lie ahead can be exploited, and above all there is a clear imperative to give taxpayers and passengers a better deal.’ was a significant challenge to the rail industry. The government’s 2012 command
paper – Reforming our Railways: Putting the Customer First, called on the industry to aim to reduce its costs by £3.5 billion by 2019 making the railway more financially sustainable and lessening the burden on fare and taxpayers alike. Achieving that aim will require a root and branch reassessment of the contractual and other relationships between all industry parties. As if that were not challenging enough,
the subsequent collapse of the West Coast refranchising, resulting in the ‘pausing’ of the refranchising programme, raised the stakes still further. Today the rail industry not only needs to ‘earn its licence to grow’, it needs to re-engage emotionally with a
public who, though using the railway in record numbers, remain to be convinced that UK rail offers real value for money. With nearly 20 years’ experience of
helping the rail industry to move forward, Burges Salmon is well placed to help it respond to its latest challenges and Rail Partner, Simon Coppen, remains optimistic: ‘This industry has faced one challenge after another since its privatisation. I’m confident that it’ll meet these latest challenges and that we’ll play our part in helping it to do just that.’ Burges Salmon was involved with the
rail industry even before privatisation, advising Mendip Rail (the rail operating division of what was then Foster Yeoman) on its arrangements with British Rail to operate its own aggregate trains. However, it was privatisation that really gave the firm the chance to build a national reputation for specialist legal advice to the rail industry. ‘With hindsight we were fortunate to be appointed advisers to Great Western’ recalls Commercial Rail
Partner Nick Olley. ‘It was in the vanguard of the privatisation process so we got involved with many of the groups that were shaping key industry arrangements. This gave us a unique insight into the regulatory and policy framework underpinning key areas such as regulated access. We gained a thorough understanding not only of what was done, but why.’
A large and specialist team Today Burges Salmon’s practice comprises six specialist rail partners and a large team of specialist rail lawyers who together play a leading role in advising the rail industry on policy, strategic and operational issues. The team is widely acclaimed for providing quick, clear and pragmatic advice founded on a multi-dimensional understanding of the rail industry, its contracting and regulatory framework and its established customs and practices. As a leading legal directory put it: ‘One of the leading names in the market… understands the law brilliantly… exhibits a great
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