I just wanted to say a huge thank you to you, Catherine and your team for all your sterling working on the children’s project. [You] always come across with good humour, complete focus and complete professionals
Head of Law, Local Authority
Practice areas:
Sector experience:
Catherine is a senior member of our construction and commercial team. Prior to joining Sharpe Pritchard, she worked as a solicitor in local government and so is enormously experienced in the field of procurement and commercial contracts.
Catherine is accustomed to finding ways through challenging situations to help parties reach their objectives and she brings this practical and positive approach to her role as a PDSL accredited and International Mediation Institute (IMI) qualified mediator.
Full Profile
Catherine has extensive public sector experience gained first as a solicitor in local government and then with Sharpe Pritchard.
The majority of her work is in the field of procurement and commercial contracts where she is well used to working on complex projects with tight timescales.
Catherine has advised on public procurement issues at all stages and regularly drafts tender and commercial contracts. She has particular expertise in relation to education and social care services.
Catherine has extensive experience of the various types of governance and approvals approaches and is well used to providing legal advice for these.
In addition to project teams, Catherine works closely with legal colleagues in local and central government to enable seamless legal services for clients and valuable knowledge transfer.
Catherine has also advised on the commercial aspects of a large number of academy conversions. These have included complex sponsored academy projects and issues related to on-going school works, PFI contracts, onsite children’s centres, loans, grants and the provision of on-going council services to academies.
Catherine’s practical and positive approach is welcomed by clients. She works to find ways through challenging situations to help clients achieve their objectives. Her extensive experience working both in and for the public sector means that she is very sensitive to the financial and operational parameters within which projects often need to be delivered.
Case highlights
- Advising the DfE on the procurement of training services for early career teachers.
- Advising Hertfordshire County Council on the outsourcing of its Library Services.
- Advising the Education and Skills Funding Agency on the procurement of over 700 training providers, to deliver apprenticeship training services.
- Working on site and in collaboration with Kent and Essex Police in collating contractual records.
- Six month part-time secondment to Hertfordshire County Council to in-house role of Acting Head of Commercial and Property Law.
- Working in collaboration with partner firms on the DfE Commercial Law framework to design and deliver an innovative commercial law training programme, via skype.
