Mills & Reeve advises on construction of advanced cancer research hospital

Mills & Reeve advised Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUH) on the procurement of engineering and construction company Laing O’Rourke, and the drafting and negotiation of contracts for the design and construction of the new hospital.

The project is a partnership between CUH and the University of Cambridge in collaboration with Cancer Research UK and third sector partners.

The hospital will assist with the NHS Long Term Plan, which was published in 2019 following the announcement of additional funding for the NHS by 2023/24, by providing space for NHS clinical vocation. It hopes to unite cutting-edge industry led research on the early detection of cancer and be a market leader in the way in which treatments are given to patients.

John Spicer, project lead for the Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital, commented: “I’m extremely grateful for the wide-ranging legal support that Mills & Reeve have offered us throughout our successful procurement of the principal supply chain partner, Laing O’Rourke, for the proposed Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital. The fantastic team have supported us from the start and remain our most trusted advisor.”

Professor Richard Gilbertson, research lead for the Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital, added: “This brings us another step closer to changing the story of cancer for patients across the region - and across the world.”

Alexandra Pike, partner at Mills & Reeve, said: “The Trust, in partnership with the University of Cambridge, is one of the first hospitals to procure its principal contractor under the New Hospitals Programme. As well as being a small part of the procurement of this new facility, which will have a profound impact on cancer research, we were thrilled to work alongside the New Hospitals Programme in using their forms of NEC4 contracts which were adapted to the client’s bespoke requirements.”