Insight Sector: Emerging Technology

UK AI Policy: Exploring the Policy and Its Implications

In an era dominated by technological advancements, the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into various aspects of our lives is rapidly gaining momentum. The United Kingdom, recognising the significance of this transformative technology, is embarking on a comprehensive journey to revamp its digital landscape. As a follow-up to our article in May, ‘Navigating the Legal Landscape of Artificial Intelligence in the UK’, this article delves further into the UK’s current AI policy and its broader implications within the ongoing digital transformation.

The UK’s new regulatory framework for AI is more than just a standalone initiative. It is intricately woven into broader digital reforms that span online safety, content moderation, and data protection rules. The aim is to establish a “proportionate… and adaptable” approach to AI, as recently stated by AI Minister Jonathan Berry. This approach reflects the UK government’s commitment to fostering AI innovation while ensuring the well-being of its citizens in this evolving technological landscape.

In a recent debate in the House of Lords, Berry shed light on the alignment between the UK’s light-touch proposals and the legislative process. The AI white paper, ‘A pro-innovation approach to AI regulation’, published in late March this year, forms the foundation of these proposals. This holistic approach seeks to create a symbiotic relationship between the evolving legislation and the dynamic AI landscape.

However, the discussions within the parliamentary corridors reflect the evolving nature of this policy. Lawmakers, acknowledging the need for AI-specific legislation, are exerting pressure to introduce critical safeguards and safety measures. Berry acknowledged this pressure and emphasised the government’s readiness to adapt its approach to ensure responsible AI innovation. He stated, “We are unafraid to take further steps if needed to ensure safe and responsible AI innovation.”

The dynamism of the AI policy is further highlighted by an upcoming review scheduled for this autumn. As the government’s last legislative program of the 2022-23 parliamentary session is set to be unveiled in November 2023, there is a growing push to include legislation to regulate AI. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s stance, however, suggests focusing on existing regulatory channels for early AI development, underlining the nuanced considerations that underpin this policy.

Notably, the government has faced critique for what some perceive as a relaxed approach to AI regulation. Timothy Clement-Jones, the Co-Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Artificial Intelligence, criticised the “toothless exhortation” by sectorial regulators to adhere to ethical principles, calling for a more comprehensive and cross-sectorial approach to regulation.

This sentiment aligns with the perspective of Tina Stowell, Chair of the Communications and Digital Committee. Stowell, leading an inquiry into large language models, urged lawmakers to view AI regulation through a balanced lens that avoids being swayed by either overly optimistic or excessively pessimistic narratives. She emphasised the need to harness AI’s benefits while addressing its risks.

Central to this evolving landscape is the role of key regulators such as Ofcom and the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The review process includes scrutinising their structure, capacity, and ability to navigate the intricacies of AI regulation. As the digital landscape transforms, the regulators’ readiness to adapt and evolve becomes paramount.

It is evident the UK’s AI policy is still evolving. Other jurisdictions such as the EU, US and China are adopting differing approaches to AI regulation. In particular, the EU’s preferred approach is much more prescriptive, instead opting to regulate the use and development of AI through the adoption of a ‘risk-based’, top-down legislative (via an ‘AI Act’) approach, with a centralised regulatory approach. Notably, the EU’s planned approach has received significant criticism and opposition from the AI community on the basis that such a prescriptive approach is not suitable for a technology such as AI which can advance rapidly in a short period of time.

Currently, in contrast, the UK’s AI policy is intricately interwoven with a broader digital revamp. Its decentralised, adaptive approach seeks to balance innovation with safeguards, drawing attention to both the transformative potential and potential risks of AI. Whilst there is clearly disagreement within parliament as to whether this is the best approach, it is arguable that this more flexible approach will allow the AI industry to help shape a more suitable type of AI regulation in the UK over time.

If you would like to discuss any of the issues mentioned in this article, please get in touch.

Conexus Law launches Conexus GC to unlock innovation in UK small and medium sized businesses

Conexus Law has officially launched Conexus GC, its virtual general counsel (i.e. the main in-house lawyer who gives legal advice to a business) service, to meet growing demand from the UK’s small and medium sized businesses operating in its specialist sectors. Since launching the rapidly growing boutique law firm in 2020 with a mission to unlock innovation in the built environment and digital world, managing partner Ed Cooke and the Conexus Law team have been informally providing a general counsel service for some clients who are not yet of a size or stage to hire their own in-house lawyer.

Ed Cooke, “With so much demand we decided to make this a service in its own right. In effect we’ve been market testing for three years so know exactly what legal services our smaller clients need, and how to deliver them, to accelerate their success.”

Conexus Law is a rapidly growing boutique law firm working exclusively for clients operating at the intersection of the built environment, technology and people. Partner Chris Perrin, head of commercial, technology and data for Conexus Law has taken on the lead partner role for Conexus GC.

Ed Cooke, “Applying the law to unlock innovation is our stated mission. We have a growth mindset, for ourselves and our clients, and we recognise that many small and medium sized businesses struggle to deal with the many legal demands that face them, especially when they are not big enough to have their own in-house legal team. This can be a real stumbling block to growth. Plus, it’s challenging for busy CEOs and COOs to find the right people who truly understand their markets and sectors. We totally ‘get’ the built environment and technology sectors, because it’s all we do. We remove the blocks and facilitate growth.”

A key benefit to Conexus GC clients is that they can choose from three, tiered subscription packages – bronze, silver and gold – and this allows them to predict their legal costs for six+ months. Clients with slightly different needs are offered custom arrangements. On signing up to the service, all new clients are given a named point of contact, a complimentary overview of their existing contract management with flagging of key dates, plus an initial horizon scanning service to highlight issues that could impact on their business, with advice on how to offset them.

Chris Perrin, “Our lawyers are all highly experienced in their specialist areas and many have worked as in-house lawyers too, so they totally understand the demands and pressure of supporting a growing business. The subscription model means Conexus GC clients can have all the multi-disciplined legal advice they need, at an affordable and predictable price.”

Conexus GC’s advice includes key areas such as commercial contracts, employment and intellectual property. Conexus Law’s sustainable business service is also available on the Conexus GC platform. For small to medium sized businesses needing emergency advice, whether a new or existing Conexus GC client, the team also offers an immediate crisis response team.

Although currently available for UK based companies only, the Conexus GC team can still work on international affairs, including global contracts and cross-border legal strategies, through its global network of best-friend firms.

Chris Perrin, “Every business that made a difference started out small. We’re looking forward to working with more businesses and speeding up their journey to success.”

Conexus GC is available from today on www.conexusgc.com.

Navigating the Legal Landscape of Artificial Intelligence in the UK

In this article, our Head of Commercial, Technology and Data, Chris Perrin, explores the legal landscape of AI in the UK and provides tips for businesses on how to navigate this complex area of law.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the hottest topics right now in our client conversations, and with good reason. Across industries, from healthcare to finance, AI is undoubtedly transforming the way in which businesses operate. However, whilst there are many great things that AI may be put to use for, the news stories that are becoming increasingly more common about AI are those that centre around the concerns of this intelligence – the rapid development of AI and the potential consciousness of AI as systems become more advanced.

The use of AI therefore raises a range of legal and ethical challenges that businesses much carefully navigate.

Overview of AI and the law

AI by definition refers to the use of algorithms and machine learning to automate decision-making processes. Whilst it can offer significant benefits to businesses, it also raises a range of legal and ethical issues such as data protection, discrimination and liability.

Currently in the UK, there is no specific legislation governing the use of AI. However, that’s unlikely to stay the case for long. In late March, the UK government published its long-awaited paper, setting out the government’s proposals to govern and regulate AI.

The paper, which was headed ‘A pro-innovation approach to AI regulation’, details how the government intends to support innovation while providing a framework to ensure risks are identified and addressed. Rather than target specific technologies, it focuses on the context in which AI is deployed. This, claims the government, will enable regulators to take a balanced approach to weighing up the benefits versus the potential risks.

Other recent government decisions very much support this pro-innovation approach. For example, a task force will receive initial start-up funding of £100m to help accelerate research and development efforts in the field of AI. This has been introduced with the view to ensuring that the UK remains at the forefront of AI innovation by 2030, while giving priority to responsible and ethical AI technology development.

Unsurprisingly, the UK is not alone in seeking to regulate AI. After a universal hiatus on AI regulation, the EU, the US, and China are also on the road to implementing their own regulatory regimes. It will be very interesting to see how each of these regimes pans out, as this will likely influence where AI companies focus both their resources and efforts.

Until any AI bill emerges and becomes law, when using AI, businesses must comply with existing laws and regulations, such as the UK and EU versions of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the UK Equality Act.

Legal and ethical challenges of AI

1. Data Protection: AI relies on large amounts of data to function effectively. However, this data must be collected, processed and stored in compliance with data protection laws, such as the GDPR. Businesses must ensure that they have obtained the necessary consents and are transparent about how the data is being used.
2. Discrimination: AI can potentially perpetuate or even exacerbate discrimination. For example, if the data used to train an AI system is biased, this bias may be reflected in the decisions made by the AI system itself. Businesses must ensure that their AI systems do not discriminate against individuals based on protected characteristics, such as race, gender, or disability.
3. Liability: One of the most significant legal challenges of AI is determining who is responsible if something goes wrong. If an AI system makes a decision that causes harm, it can be challenging to determine whether the responsibility lies with the business that developed the AI system, the individual who trained it, or the AI system itself.

Tips for navigating the legal landscape of AI

1. Conduct a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA): this will allow your organisation to identify the potential privacy risks associated with your AI system and put measures in place that can mitigate these risks.
2. Audit your data: an audit allows you to verify that your data is unbiased and does not perpetuate discrimination. Consider using a diverse range of data sources to ensure that your AI system is trained on a representative dataset.
3. Document your decision-making processes: if a legal challenge arises, it will be important to be able to demonstrate how decisions are made by your AI system. Documenting these processes is an essential part of that proof.
4. Review your contracts: your contracts should reflect the legal and ethical considerations of AI. Consider including provisions that allocate liability and responsibility for any harm caused by the AI system.

There is no doubt that the relationship between AI and businesses has the potential to yield unprecedented growth and innovation. However, this comes with its own set of concerns. It presents numerous legal and ethical challenges to organisations of all sizes.

In order for businesses to ensure that they are complying with existing laws and regulations, there are first steps that they need to take. Some of these steps include conducting a DPIA, auditing data, documenting decision-making processes and reviewing contracts.

If you would like to discuss any of the issues mentioned in this article around AI compliance, or the recommended actions to keep the AI system operations of your organisation within the law, please get in touch.

Monaco. Conexus Law is coming for you!

Photo of Monaco

Conexus Law is attending Data Cloud Congress in Monaco

Ed Cooke and Nancy Lamb will be there #datacloudglobalcongress meeting current and future clients and contacts.

Please contact Ed Cooke and/or Nancy Lamb for a scheduled catch-up. Otherwise we look forward to seeing you around and about!

Nancy Lamb Joins Conexus Law to Launch Collaborative Contracts Service

Nancy Lamb

Conexus Law continues its growth and recruitment drive with the hire of Nancy Lamb, a leading expert in data centre construction contracts.

Lamb, who is known for her straight-talking, no-nonsense approach, offers to understand, negotiate and implement construction contracts to maintain project momentum and avoid expensive disputes. Conexus Law’s managing partner, Ed Cooke, and Lamb will be launching a new and unique service using the latest techniques for collaborative contracting exclusively for the data centre industry.

Ed Cooke; “As a law firm specialising in data centres we need lawyers totally embedded in the sector. A construction lawyer with big law firm experience who has super-niched in data centres, Nancy is one of the best and we’re thrilled that she’s joining our growing team at a critical stage in our development. Demand is soaring for a lawyer with Nancy’s exceptional skills and background. I’ve seen her in action, she gets things done, she delivers results.”

Nancy Lamb trained at Pinsent Masons later joining the firm’s top-ranked Construction Team before moving to Hill Dickinson LLP, also in construction. Lamb moved on from private practice law firms to work in various executive roles for Tyco Fire Product, Sudlows and MiCiM.

Nancy Lamb; “Conexus Law is the right choice for me for many reasons and here are my top two. Ed can see the value I will bring to clients because of my unique insight having worked in both the legal world and on project delivery. Second, the potential is huge. Collaborative contracts are so important because they acknowledge and value relationships – rather than processes – and the start to moving away from the existing adversarial and confrontational nature of construction projects. We can do better than that! A collaborative approach is particularly important in the data centre sector because the pool of stakeholders is so small. I’m looking forward to working with Conexus Law clients and introducing my own connections.”

Conexus Law is recruiting technology and corporate partners while broadening its team of consultants. Since launching 2019, Conexus Law has built a consultancy team that includes Emma Cordiner, data centre real estate expert, and Gavin Johnson, who heads up the firm’s Buildtech team.

Ed Cooke; “We’ve set the bar high on our recruitment standards and it takes a special kind of lawyer to join our team. Big firm experience and a track record in our markets are important because clients expect leading edge advice and outlook. We also need ambitious people, with entrepreneurial flair, who are keen to play their part in growing our firm. There is an exciting future for the right candidates.”

Conexus Law is a unique, challenger brand, boutique law firm advising clients operating at the intersection of the built environment, technology and people.

For further advice on Collaborative Contracting please contact Nancy Lamb via her contact details below.

Nancy Lamb
Main: +44 (0)20 7390 0280
Mobile: +44 (0)7771 877234
[email protected]

Working in the Indian Data Centre Market

Taj Mahal

In 2020, the Indian Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology announced its draft Data Centre Policy, designed to make the country more attractive for domestic and foreign investment into the data centre sector. In this article, Ed Cooke, Founder at Conexus Law, shares some of his experiences of working on Indian projects including some of the key differences in design and construction contracts.

The vision

The government’s vision is to make India a global data hub, primarily by promoting the data centre sector to give it infrastructure status and creating a benign regulatory environment. Plans also include establishing Data Centre Economic Zones with high-quality power and connectivity infrastructure, water and other utilities, and creating financial incentives, particularly for the use of Indian-manufactured equipment and hardware. In fact, certain state governments, such as the states of Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh, have already announced state-wide policies to encourage data centre development.

Over the past few years, a number of global data centre operators have announced investment partnerships focused on the Indian market. These include the recently announced joint venture between Digital Realty and Brookfield Infrastructure Partners, Yondr’s venture with Singaporean Everstone Group, AdaniConneX (a JV of EdgeConneX and Adani Group), and announcements of hyperscale data centre developments by the likes of CapitaLand, Hiranandani, NTT, and STT GDC. In fact, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore and Delhi are already well advanced as important locations to serve the increasing Digital Transformation among the Indian domestic market and the global communications market. Mumbai, in particular, has been the premier choice for hyperscale developments due to its infrastructure availability and proximate subsea landing stations.

Understanding the differences

At Conexus Law, we have recently been working for US and European based clients on the construction of hyperscale size data centre projects in India. As commercial and legal advisors specialising in technology infrastructure, one of our regular tasks is to help clients enter new markets.

This includes helping them to understand the legal, commercial and cultural differences compared to operating in their ‘home’ environment. We always work with local partners and it is a part of our work that we really love doing.

The Indian legal system is fashioned on English common law, but overlayed with Indian legislation and regulatory laws. Indian court judgments set precedent and so it is important to understand both the legislative and common law context in which you are working.

In our experience, most data centre construction contracts in India are either based on a bespoke form of contract or a FIDIC standard form (usually a Yellow Book). There are also other inevitable regional differences.

Areas to focus on

As an example, labour and the supply chain are a huge and complex area in India and we often get involved in advising clients on their approach to procurement, and to monitoring second and third tier suppliers. Performance security, bonds and third-party guarantees/letters of credit are extensively used on large construction projects in India and we play a role in monitoring these. Also structuring payments against milestones – in particular protections around advance payments – are, in our experience, common in India.

The quality and workmanship – and in particular compliance with local and international codes and standards – is an area of real focus and aligns with detailed staged and integrated commissioning processes. There are also a number of compulsory insurances required in India alongside those which would normally be expected by an international client.

Cultural considerations

When we are negotiating in a different country or culture, we work hard to understand how the approach of our negotiating partner might differ from your own. It is always risky to try to characterise a whole nation or culture by a set of rules and so there needs to be a lot of ‘finding your way’ with the relevant individuals. However, we find cultural frameworks such as the well-known Geert Hofstede index, can be useful as a starting point. For example, through that, we learn that Indian culture scores highly in relation to its appreciation of hierarchy. It is therefore important to establish early on where the individuals we are negotiating with fit and ensure that either negotiations on specific points are conducted at the right level. An alternative is to provide enough justification for our stance to enable the individual to take the decision back to his or her superiors and make a convincing argument. It is quite easy to cause offence by not respecting the hierarchical structure (perhaps by seeking to jump a level in order to get faster resolution of an issue). To the western negotiator who is often time pressured, negotiating can feel like a very slow process but it is important to temper frustrations for the long-term goal. Also remember, as with many Asian cultures, that the term ‘yes’ is often used to indicate understanding of the point being made, not agreement to it. In our experience, this can cause clients great difficulty when they report that an issue has been closed out, only to find it has not been.

In conclusion, investment in digital infrastructure is happening at scale in India and there is a vast amount of further potential in this market. In fact, investment in the Indian data centre market is expected to reach US$8 billion by 2026. There are inevitable challenges in meeting the demand of a very tech-enabled population and business sector quickly enough, with reliable infrastructure to overcome historic under-investment in the region, such as quality construction and availability of highly qualified labour. We are proud to be part of it.

How to Ensure Stadiums are Built on Time

Stadium under construction

Ian Timlin, head of sport at Conexus Law explains how to make best use of the law to ensure your stadium is built on time, on budget, on spec and generating revenue.

If the mantra “Plan, plan and plan again and build in extra contingency” ever applied, it is in relation to the construction of stadiums.

As Bath Rugby Club are finding out in the Court of Appeal (hearing 5 Oct 2021), you need to start with the basics and establish whether you can legally do all that you want at the site. Bath Rugby Limited (“BRL”) hold a long lease of an area in the centre of Bath used for playing rugby and football, known as “the Rec” and are planning to develop that area. However, the beneficiaries of restrictive covenants in respect of the Rec obtained a High Court ruling in September 2020 preventing BRL’s proposed development. Hence their time consuming and costly visit to the Court of Appeal in late 2021.

In tandem with the above, whilst proper site surveys, scoping of works and funding and budgeting, consideration of any likely backlash to the development, getting all stakeholders on-board, getting the legal agreements in place in good time, having a realistic project programme and contingency on many fronts are required, we explore below other matters that are in our experience are unique to getting your stadium built on-time, on-budget, with satisfactory quality and so it generates revenue.

  • Normal expectations for competitive tendering do not apply. For example, you go out to 6 main contractors for competitive build costs. In our experience, for certain specialised packages of the build (eg seating) all 6 potential main contractors come back with seating prices from the same or say two seating sub-contractors because of the limited supply pool. So how do you get competitive and transparent pricing? You need transparency in the tender process to understand what makes up the pricing of the proposed main contractors’ packages. You may even need to obtain and pass on the results of your own investigations for bespoke packages to proposed main contractors, or adopt a procurement approach which is more akin to management contracting.
  • Very large bespoke packages only available from limited suppliers often need a long lead time depending on other stadia being constructed in your region/continent at any given time. The procurement of the seating package is paramount and must be given early consideration and priority as should complex M&E elements.
  • You must absolutely adhere to the requirements of the sports’ governing body for the stadium’s proposed use/s especially regarding the playing surface and arena configuration requirements or player’s facilities (eg the construction materials and measurements of a running track or dimensions of a football pitch and dressing rooms and hospitality).
  • The views of stakeholders (eg athletes, local residents, governing bodies, disability groups, emergency services, health and safety, hospitality, fans, tv and media, match day or event operations, non-match day revenue generation, future maintenance operations) must be canvassed early to decide what of their views and requirements can or need to be incorporated in the proposed development.
  • In respect of stakeholders, do not underestimate the impact of television, media and smart technology on your stadium. Facilities must be appropriate and future proofed to accommodate television, media and smart technology (eg smart turnstiles and hospitality and food and beverage offerings equipment and offerings) with more than adequate data connectivity.
  • The traditional legal tool to try and get any construction project delivered on time is liquidated damages – a pre-agreed daily/weekly amount to be paid to the employer by the contractor for late completion of the construction project. However, in our experience on a mission critical stadium construction project (eg the London Stadium for the 2012 Olympics), no amount of accrued daily/weekly liquidated damages (however large) is going to compensate for the stadium not being ready for its planned event. The reputational damage to the employer, governing body and contractor plus the costs of moving an event to another stadium does not bear thinking about (eg moving TV, media, officials, competitors, training grounds and accommodation to an alternative existing venue). So creative thinking needs to be brought to bear to this issue. For example, you may not engage the cheapest main contractor on price but the one with the largest reputation to protect and who demonstrates in the tender process the serious steps that it will take to protect its business reputation whatever.
  • Consequently, stadium construction must be subject to the tightest of regular programme management, an understanding of what is on the critical path at all times, accurate, truthful and honest information flows from the contractor to the employer and its professional consultants and vice versa, quick and straightforward dispute escalation and resolution processes. The project culture must be open and collaborative in actions as well as words and be backed up with adequate legal drafting in contractual documents if any party decides to deviate from that path. All team members should understand schedules and deadlines before construction begins.

The state of the art Tottenham Hotspur Stadium which opened late in April 2019 at a reported cost of circa £1billion (seating capacity of 62,850), being a multi-purpose stadium featuring the world’s first dividing retractable football pitch, which reveals a synthetic turf field underneath for NFL games in London, concerts and other events which includes smart tech such as the revolutionary bottom of the beer glass filling in the longest bar in Europe (65 metres), shows how far stadium have progressed and the trials and tribulations faced in their construction.

Contributors to this article were Ian Timlin, head of sport, Ed Cooke, Conexus managing partner and Earle Brady, specialist construction and engineering lawyer. Legal advice in the sports sector includes acting as one of the principal construction lawyers working for the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games; and advising two Premiership football clubs over a period of 15 years on construction and engineering projects in and around their stadia and including two significant stadia extension projects.

For further legal advice in the sport sector, please contact Ian Timlin via his contact details below.

Ian Timlin
Main: +44 (0)20 7390 0280
Mobile: +44 (0)77 6742 7332
[email protected]

The Queen’s Speech May 2021 – Legal Update

London Skyline

This year’s Queen’s Speech contained several points that are relevant to our clients and the sectors we operate in. We have pulled together a list of the relevant legislative proposals, some of which were already known about, or carried over from the previous parliamentary session. We will continue to monitor the progress of these and provide timely updates.

ADVANCED RESEARCH AND INVENTION AGENCY BILL

This Bill is about developing the Life Sciences sector so it attracts people and business from across the world. This includes increasing public expenditure on research and development to £22 billion and creating an Advanced Research and Invention Agency which will be focused on funding high-risk, high-reward research and development.

PLANNING REFORM

Reforming planning laws and improving building safety were central to the Queen’s Speech. The change in planning laws to increase the number of new houses being built was announced proposals for areas which will be designated for growth, protection or regeneration, with developments in growth areas being harder for local opponents to block. The speech also made reference to the ongoing overhaul of the Building Regulations system in the UK with The Building Safety Bill still going through parliament.

PRODUCT SECURITY AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS INFRASTRUCTURE BILL

This is designed to ensure that smart consumer products, including smartphones and televisions, are more secure against cyber-attacks, protecting individual privacy and security. It also includes a commitment to the roll out of 5G mobile data coverage and gigabit-capable broadband to support better telecommunications coverage and connectivity.

TELECOMMUNICATIONS (SECURITY) BILL

This will give the Government new powers designed to ensure the long-term security and resilience of the UK’s telecoms networks and infrastructure and minimising the threat of high-risk vendors. It will also strengthen the security and oversight of technology used in telecoms networks including the electronic equipment and software used across the network which handle internet traffic and telephone calls.

ONLINE SAFETY BILL

The Online Safety Bill has been highly publicised and aims ‘to make the UK the safest place in the world to be online’, improving protections for users, especially children, whilst protecting freedom of expression, making companies responsible for their users’ safety online, and supporting a thriving and fast-growing digital sector. This will likely mean working with the industry to ensure there are clear legal definitions of what constitutes harmful online content, setting out the responsibilities that companies of different sizes have to observe and establishing clear codes of practice.

Conexus Law Launches New Service to Help Organisations Mitigate “Brexit Risk”

Conexus Law, the specialist provider of legal advice to businesses operating at the intersection of the built environment, technology and people, has launched a Brexit Contract Management and Audit Service. It is designed to help address the many unresolved issues following the Christmas Eve Agreement.

The new service will help organisations manage any potential contract risks and assess existing contractual arrangements that may require attention to ensure continuity of commercially viable relationships post BREXIT. It will include a full audit of all contracts including a review of standard terms and conditions (both signed and those under negotiation), and any bespoke contracts with both suppliers and customers, together with business contracts which touch every business area whether it be IT, purchasing, product, sales and marketing, office services, facilities maintenance, logistics or outsourcing.

In addition advice will be given as to whether a contract has a mechanism or opportunity to exit or re-negotiate its terms should this be necessary. While the service will focus on arrangements with EU suppliers or customers, it can include the full suite of contracts globally (including UK to UK contracts and UK to non-EU contracts).

Brexit will also impact trade between the UK and global markets and between the EU and global markets, with likely increased customs and duty requirements and costs. All of this will be taken into account when setting the scope of the contract audit.

Ed Cooke, Founder at Conexus Law, said: “Although The Christmas Eve Agreement gave some clarity, businesses continue to be faced with uncertainty. There are clear implications for many areas such as supply chains, imports and exports and employment that will affect the technology and datacentre sectors and our service will ensure full visibility of the commercial impact of Brexit on the business.”

HOW CAN CONEXUS LAW HELP?

Businesses and individuals will need legal advice to help them understand the risks they may face and the options that may be open to them.

We are available to assist in reviewing the laws in many jurisdictions across the world, and to review specific contracts. We are also available to provide practical, business-orientated advice on how to best protect yourself from the ongoing commercial effects of Brexit.

Contact

For further advice on mitigating Brexit risks, please contact Ed Cooke.

T: +44 (0)20 7390 0281
M: +44 (0)7535 123000
E: [email protected]

Ed Cooke talks to Data Centre Solutions

Our Founder Ed Cooke has spoken to Datacentre Solutions about the potential impact of Brexit on the industry.