National Head of Procurement Law

We've appointed Ruth Smith as our National Head of Procurement Law. Ruth Smith is renowned as one of the foremost public procurement lawyers in the country – being one of only six lawyers to be ranked in the top tier for public procurement by legal “bible” Chambers and Partners. Ruth advises public, private and utility sector clients on successful procurement and bidding strategies, and on all other aspects of the public procurement regime. She also has an active contentious practice and advises on both bringing and defending challenges to procurement decisions. Ruth has built up her substantial procurement law practice over a number of years, most recently as partner and head of the public procurement team at Pinsent Masons. She recently advised the Audit Commission on the outsourcing of its in-house audit practice, which is expected to deliver huge savings for the public sector of around £250 million over five years. Another high profile role involved advice to the Department for Culture Media and Sports and BDUK on the procurement of their Broadband Delivery Framework. The Framework will help to stimulate investment in broadband infrastructure in rural and remote UK areas. Ruth is tasked with leading and developing our existing public procurement practice across sectors including health, education, technology, and central government, and enhancing the firm’s procurement law offering, including its leading Procurement Portal www.procurementportal.com. Kevin Calder, partner, commented: “This is a major strategic investment for our growing procurement practice and will help us to build yet further on our reputation in this area. We are extremely excited to have a key player such as Ruth on board.” Ruth added: “I’m delighted to have joined Mills & Reeve at what is an exciting time for the procurement law team. I’m really looking forward to working with my new colleagues to explore opportunities to develop and grow this impressive practice further.”