Member Article

Temple Bright advises on innovative Cumbria healthcare PPP

Law firm Temple Bright has advised eLIFT Cumbria Limited as project sponsors of the new £12million Barrow Community Healthcare Centre in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria. The facility will be situated on the site of the former Alfred Barrow School and will bring together primary and community care services and will help reduce unnecessary hospital admissions.

The new BREEAM excellent facility is a 5,000m2 site will be developed through a Public Private Partnership Programme (Local Improvement Finance Trust) led by Temple Bright client, eLIFT Cumbria Ltd and Community Health Partnerships Limited. The Alfred Barrow School was built in 1888 and was given Grade 2 listing in 1993 before being closed as a school in 2013. The development shows how modern and historic architecture can work effectively together and is designed to preserve and enhance the former listed school building as well as create a modern healthcare facility.

The aim of the project is to develop healthcare facilities that support the delivery of integrated care, whilst also creating an innovative workspace which departs from more conventional office layouts to help people focus on new ways of working and collaboration. The project is one of the first to complete since the 2013 healthcare reforms, in a complex environment and challenging time for the NHS.

The Temple Bright team was led by Projects and PPP partner Ed Johnson and Real Estate partner Greig Thewlis.

Ed Johnson said “The Barrow LIFT Project was one of the most challenging LIFT projects in the history of the LIFT initiative due to the challenges faced by the NHS and the complex circumstances of the project itself. The successful close of the project is a testament to the persistence and commercial solutions brought by eLIFT Cumbria and the hard work of many people from different organisations working together to achieve a common goal.”

Temple Bright acted opposite national and City firms Bevan Brittan, Mills & Reeve, Watson Burton and CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang.

Temple Bright co-founder Tim Summers said: “We were delighted to advise this prestigious client on what looks to be a groundbreaking public private partnership in the healthcare sector. Ed and Greig’s work on the deal is further evidence that our streamlined partner-only business model is suitable for a range of work previously the exclusive domain of City and large regional law firms.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Temple Bright .