North West housing provider, Torus Group has announced the law firms appointed to its £6.5m legal services framework.
The organisation procured the framework last year marking its first major procurement exercise conducted under the Procurement Act 2023.
The four-year framework, which runs from 2026 to 2030, will support Torus’ ongoing development, corporate and housing management activities by providing access to specialist external legal expertise, in addition to its in-house legal team.
Spanning five lots, it expands on a previous framework in order to support the housing provider’s increasing needs as it embarks on a substantial growth strategy that will see a significant uplift in the number of new homes it builds beyond the 1,000 a year it currently delivers.
Alongside legal expertise, Torus says the appointed firms will deliver measurable social value outcomes aligned to its mission of growing stronger communities.
Steve Coffey, Torus Group’s chief executive, said: “Expanding our framework reflects the ambition of our growth strategy that will require significantly more legal support and expertise.
“A key part of this growth is tackling the housing shortage in our communities and this will be addressed with our new housebuilding programme where we are looking to gain Strategic Partner Plus status with Homes England.
“The response, quality and quantity of tenders received to the legal framework was excellent with some existing law firms retained and new companies added.
“We are really pleased to welcome everyone on board as they play an intrinsic role as key partners helping us delivery crucial services to our tenants and communities.”
The 11 law firms appointed to the framework are:
- Lot One, development and specialist property transactions: Brabners; Capsticks; Penningtons Manches Cooper; Sharratts (London); Weightmans; and Ward Hadaway
- Lot Two, sales and routine property transactions: Brabners; Capsticks; Forbes Solicitors; Sharratts (London); Weightmans; and Ward Hadaway
- Lot Three, corporate and finance: Anthony Collins Solicitors; Brabners; Capsticks; Devonshires; Forbes Solicitors; and Pennington Manches Cooper
- Lot Four, employment and human resources: Anthony Collins Solicitors; Capsticks; and Weightmans
- Lot Five, housing management: Brabners; Capsticks; Clarke Willmott; and Shakespeare Martineau
Torus held a day-long launch event to welcome those appointed, give presentations for each lot to introduce future work requirements, as well as relationship-building with a university open day style event so people could get to know each other.
Main image: Torus’ group head of legal services, Jenny McGowan with group chief executive, Steve Coffey at the framework launch event
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