Headquartered in Teesside it provides a vital trading link with both mainland European and global markets and has a a reputation as a centre of renewable energy expertise.
The company also own and operate Teesport, a major deep-water complex and the fifth largest port in the UK by volume.
The challenge
PD Ports looked to install a new linkspan bridge at its Ro-Ro facility at Teesport that would allow larger vessels to berth at Tees Dock.
We were appointed by PD Ports to provide full procurement support. This major contract was to be procured under the Utilities Contracts Regulations 2016 (UCR); this is a separate strand of procurement law to the usual public contracts advice and required in-depth knowledge of those Regulations. Due to a shortage of staff in our client’s usual procurement team, they required a legal provider who could engage with the client’s operational staff directly and manage the procurement process from beginning to end.
The solution
We were engaged by PD Ports due to our experience and expertise in UCR advice. We managed the full tender process on behalf of the client, preparing procurement strategy alongside the operational personnel from PD Ports.
We drafted a full suite of documents to enable the procurement to take place and managed our client’s procurement portal to deal with all communications with bidders, receipt of tenders and clarifications and drafting and uploading all documents including feedback letters. We also attended negotiation meetings with bidders on-site and ran the clarifications process on behalf of our client.
The impact
This was an important and key project for our client as it was intended to enable the expansion of Teesport to accept larger Ro-Ro container ships to dock.
During times when we’ve been at full capacity, we’ve handed over procurement projects in their entirety to Muckle. They’ve managed the procurement journey from beginning to end, everything from designing processes to drafting documents and managing bidders. Muckle are not only trusted procurement advisers but also a valued part of our team.