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Wendy Nicolson

Partner

Portrait ofWendy Nicolson

Wendy Nicolson

Partner

Contact
CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP
Saltire Court
20 Castle Terrace
Edinburgh
EH1 2EN
United Kingdom
Languages English

Wendy Nicolson is a partner specialising in public procurement and related antitrust, competition and trade issues. 

Wendy is dual qualified (Scotland and England & Wales) and has extensive experience advising a wide range of clients across the UK on public procurement and related antitrust, competition and trade issues, including in the life sciences, energy and utilities and defence sectors.  Wendy brings to her procurement practice her vast experience and solution focused approach in delivering projects for clients. She offers robust and pragmatic support to clients through their procurements to ensure they get the right supplier and outcome. She also advises on contentious procurement matters demonstrating the necessary pace of advice and expertise required to support and advise on best outcomes.  

Wendy has acted on a number of high-profile complex procurements and that advice covers all aspects of procurement from procurement strategy, advising on compliant and effective tender processes, the conduct of tender exercises from pretender engagement/advertisement to award and standstill stages and on the drafting of all procurement documentation in compliance with the applicable procurement regulations.

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Relevant experience

The following were completed at a previous law firm:

  • Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and Magnox Ltd. in connection with its procurement activities in the nuclear sector.
  • National Employment Savings Trust on its procurement for its pension scheme administration services, a significant strategic procurement for Nest, with an estimated contract value of £1.5bn over the course of a potential 18-year period.
  • Ministry of Justice on various complex, strategic procurements including the prison estate reformation project and probation services procurements.
  • Cumbria County Council on the delivery of the £100m+ Carlisle Southern Link Road which will provide vital infrastructure and network capacity, one of the largest road schemes in the north of England.
  • Suffolk County Council on the Council's project for the construction of the Gull Wing, Lowestoft’s third crossing over Lake Lothing. This lifting bridge is Suffolk’s most significant infrastructure development in years and secured over £70m of DfT funding. 
  • Northumberland County Council on their procurement for the Northumberland Line Stations Construction project. 
  • Aberdeen Harbour Board on procurements associated with its £450m expansion project recognised by the Scottish Government as a major infrastructure project of national significance.
  • Port of Tilbury in connection with two procurement processes for contractors to design and build new port facilities for the existing Tilbury Port.
  • Mutual Energy Limited in connection with its Premier Transmission Pipeline System procurement.
  • City of Edinburgh Council, Scottish Enterprise and University of Edinburgh on its competitive dialogue procurement for a private sector development partner for the Edinburgh BioQuarter Project, a place-based education, healthcare, life-science and commercial district next to the Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh which will be a leading global location for development in healthcare and life sciences.
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Memberships & Roles

  • Procurement Lawyers Association.
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Education

  • 1996 - DIP LP with distinction, Glasgow University, Glasgow.
  • 1995 - LLB (Hons), Dundee University, Dundee.
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Expertise

Feed

24/10/2024
10th CMS Public Procurement Forum
Procurement Reform: Challenges and Opportunities
Event Legal
14/10/2024
Procurement Act go-live delayed to February 2025; but no hold-up in preparations...
The six-month implementation period for entry into force of the new UK Procurement Act 2023 has been delayed a further four-months, with the new go-live date now being pushed back to 24 February 2025...
Law-Now Public Procurement
22/07/2024
Application of the Procurement Act 2023 to the Energy & Utilities Sector
The Procurement Act 2023 repeals the current set of rules governing utilities procurement in the UK.  Other than for utilities operating solely in Scotland and not in reserved areas, all UK utilities...
Law-Now Energy & Climate Change
12/07/2024
Levelling the playing field ?
Construction policy note introduces Graduated Pricing Mechanism as an alternative method of determining price score in tender eval­u­ations.Guid­ance setting out a new method of determining the price score...
Law-Now Infrastructure & Projects
13/06/2024
Procurement Reform – on track for the ‘go live’ date of 28 October 2024
The UK will have a General Election on 4 July. This means we are currently in the ‘pre-elec­tion’ period where decisions related to policy matters are expected to be deferred until after the election...
Law-Now Public Procurement
25/04/2024
The Procurement Act 2023 ‘goes live’ on 28 October 2024
The Government has announced that it is working towards a ‘go-live’ date for the new procurement regime of  28 October 2024. This marks the beginning of the six month preparation period for contracting...
Law-Now Public Procurement
20/02/2024
Court of Appeal confirms position on damages for breach of public procurement...
The much anticipated judgment in the Braceurself appeal has been handed down by the Court of Appeal. The Court of Appeal (led by LJ Coulson) has reaffirmed the position established by the High Court that...
Law-Now Dispute Resolution
26/01/2024
Commissioning Health Care Services in England: The new PSR regime
Following a lengthy consultation process, the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023 (the “PSR”), were laid before Parliament on 19 October 2023. The PSR has been designed...
Law-Now Life Sciences & Healthcare
23/01/2024
Universities and the Procurement Act 2023
The legal landscape in the UK for procurement is changing this year. This quick update summarises the impact this may have on UK universities.To the extent a university considers its activities to be...
Law-Now Public Procurement
10/10/2023
Procurement Cube
Welcome to CMS’ interactive Procurement Cube where we will be exploring the new Procurement Act through the lens of a number of key sectors, each sector being one side of our cube: Defence, Energy & Utilities, In­fra­struc­ture, Life Sciences & Healthcare, Real Estate and TMT & Outsourcing. We will also be providing resources, links and up-to-date information on procurement reform in the UK. Please bookmark this page and look out for new, sector-specific insights and commentary from the CMS team.
Publication
25/08/2023
TMT & Outsourcing
The Act also gives authorities more discretion to exclude suppliers, raising risks around debarment, and has a greater focus on contract management over the lifetime of the contracts procured, including the use of KPIs and monitoring and reporting requirements. This summer, the UK Government published an updated version of the Sourcing Playbook and a new Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) Playbook. The intention is to reflect the sector-specific aspects of the new Act and in the accompanying secondary legislation and guidance in these playbooks; the playbooks acting as best practice for authorities when conducting technology and IT procurements, and outsourcing more generally. Our sector-specific insights will help you understand and navigate these new rules and their specific application in the sector.
Publication
25/08/2023
Real Estate
Compliance with procurement law (and subsidy control rules) is key to successfully structuring these projects. The procurement basis for these schemes varies, but usually involves having to navigate the complex and sometimes inconsistent case-law derived from the current set of procurement regulations.  While most of main concepts remain unchanged, some of the more detailed provisions in the new Act may make it easier to navigate public procurement rules. In considering the impact of the new Act on the Real Estate sector, our insights will consider some of those specific features of the new rules, including:The definitions of a “public contract” and “works”;Ex­emp­tions for the acquisition of land and build­ings; Dir­ect award justifications and requirements to compete sub-contracts; andThe rules applying to the modification of public contracts.
Publication
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