Nabarro advises on first BSF scheme to close in London

Media > Nabarro news > Nabarro advises on first BSF scheme to close in London

24 September 2007

Law firm Nabarro has advised on the first fully comprehensive Building Schools for the Future (BSF) scheme to close in the London area. Waltham Forest Council and the Bougyues Partnership for Education and the Community (BPEC) reached a £104 million financial close on Wave 1 of the Waltham Forest BSF programme on 31st August. The first phase will entail the construction of one PFI school and two design and build schools. Work is already well underway to commence the second phase comprising a further four schools.

Building Schools for the Future is the government's secondary schools renewal programme which aims to rebuild or renew every one of England’s 3,500 state secondary schools over a ten to fifteen year period.

The scheme is the first BSF scheme in the country to incorporate all of the elements championed by the BSF programme: the local authority has entered into a joint venture with a local education partnership (LEP), it includes both a PFI project and design and build schools and fully integrated ICT.

Waltham Forest is also the first BSF scheme to close where the local authority has invested in the PFI element. Waltham Forest is to invest 10% of the project's equity value in the form of nominal equity and subordinated debt, while a further 10% will be provided by BSF Investments (BSFI) which is held by Partnerships UK (PUK) and the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCFS). The remaining 80% will be provided by the BPEC Consortium which includes Bougyues, HSBC Infrastructure Fund, Ecovert FM and Ramesys. is also the first BSF scheme to close where the local authority has invested in the PFI element. is to invest 10% of the project's equity value in the form of nominal equity and subordinated debt, while a further 10% will be provided by BSF Investments (BSFI) which is held by Partnerships UK (PUK) and the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCFS). The remaining 80% will be provided by the BPEC Consortium which includes Bougyues, HSBC Infrastructure Fund, Ecovert FM and Ramesys.

Karen Andrews, partner at Nabarro comments: "We were delighted to advise on the Waltham Forest BSF programme which provides a perfect example of how partnering between the public and private sector can and should work. Nabarro’s extensive experience enabled us to field a fully integrated team able to advise on all elements of the programme including construction, PFI, banking and ICT."

Simon Newland, Programme Director at Waltham Forest said: "We were particularly pleased with the speed with which we reached financial close, especially given the ground breaking work needed on design and build and in other areas. Nabarro's expertise was invaluable in enabling us to achieve this."

For more information please contact:

Amy Butler
Lansons Communications
T +44 (0)20 7566 9709
amyb@lansons.com

Karen Andrews
Partner
Nabarro
T +44 (0)20 7524 6000
k.andrews@nabarro.com