Michael Rainey

Michael really adapts to the specifics of difficult problems to give very pragmatic advice - Chambers 2025

Partner, Commercial
United Kingdom

Expertise

Michael is head of the firm's public and utilities procurement team and specialises in all aspects of procurement law. He advises procuring authorities and utilities on the conduct of procurement processes, the availability of grounds to negotiate direct awards, strategies for mitigating the risk of procurement challenges and the transition to the Procurement Act 2023 . He also advises bidders on competing for regulated contracts and bringing procurement challenges. Michael's work involves the energy / utilities, health and transport sectors, along with defence and security.

Experience

Michael's recent experience includes advising:

the Department for Transport on its major rail programmes including the National Rail Contracts and the public ownership programme
National Grid on the Great Grid Upgrade Partnership, a multi-partner enterprise set up to deliver an initial nine major electricity infrastructure projects on the UK's journey to net zero
United Utilities on the Haweswater Aqueduct Resilience Programme, the first use of the DPC (Direct Procurement for Customers) model in the UK water sector