English Partnerships assembled an appropriate advisory team

2.20  The sale process required a substantial professional team to assess the potential for the Dome's development, to test the market, to evaluate proposals from bidders and negotiate a robust deal with the selected partner. English Partnerships chose to reappoint the key advisers they had used during the first competition, recognising the importance of continuity. The legal and property advisers had gained an understanding of the issues to do with the site, and of the commercial potential of the property, a particularly difficult aspect to assess. It would also have been difficult in any new competition for advisory services to attract major firms who were not conflicted by previous involvement with past or future bidders, and were willing to be associated with the continuing efforts to sell the Dome. Because of the length of time that they had originally been appointed, the terms of appointment for both Jones Lang LaSalle and Berwin Leighton Paisner were reviewed. The terms of appointment for Jones Lang LaSalle related specifically to their continuing role in the sale process, and were linked to performance. The terms of appointment for Berwin Leighton Paisner were revised as part of their wider re-appointment to English Partnerships' legal panel, and involved larger increases of from 20 per cent for senior staff and 50 per cent for juniors compared to the rates which had previously been set for their appointment to the panel three years previously. English Partnerships set these new rates in line with rates they were paying to other firms. English Partnerships consider that neither firm exploited their incumbent position. It is difficult for us to assess the reasonableness of the revised rates given the constraints on alternative advisers.