Tom Ward

Tom Ward is a Senior Associate in Bird & Bird's infrastructure, projects and procurement group in London. His practice focuses on Government Contracts, specialising in UK public procurement law, private-sector procurement, public law, grant funding and subsidy control.

He advises public sector authorities, utilities and private sector clients on UK public procurement law (e.g., the Procurement Act 2023), private-sector procurement, public law, grant funding and subsidy control (e.g., the Subsidy Control Act 2022).

Having previously worked as a central government solicitor and advised a wide range of public sector clients, Tom brings direct first-hand insight into the internal pressures, governance requirements, operational demands and political sensitivities that public authorities face every day. He uses that experience to provide practical, commercial advice to both public sector and private sector clients.

In public procurement and contracting, he has extensive experience advising contracting authorities and bidders, particularly in the infrastructure, technology and communications, energy, and defence and security sectors. He advises clients on the full lifecycle of public procurement under the Procurement Act 2023 (and previously under the EU-derived regime), EU Directives and international treaties, including route-to-market and procurement strategy, application of the Procurement Act 2023, pre-market engagement strategy, drafting and reviewing procurement documentation, conducting procurement processes, and procurement challenges and dispute risk management. In the defence and security space, he also advises on the Defence Reform Act 2014 and the Single Source Contracts Regulations 2014.

In private-sector procurement, he advises organisations on best-practice procurement and on procuring more effectively, adapting and applying public procurement best practices while maintaining the flexibility of an unregulated procurement environment.

In public law, he advises public bodies and those interacting with them on a broad range of issues, including statutory interpretation, vires and spending powers, judicial review risk assessment and litigation strategy, governance and decision-making, and Memoranda of Understanding for inter-authority collaboration.

In grant funding and subsidy control, he assists both public bodies and grant recipients in understanding their statutory and grant funding agreement obligations under the Subsidy Control Act 2022, EU State aid and international treaties, including subsidy control assessments, subsidy control solutions, Subsidy Advice Unit referral, and drafting and negotiating grant funding agreements.

He is a chair of a subcommittee of the Society for Computers and Law (SCL) Public Sector Tech Group Committee and a member of the Procurement Lawyers Association (PLA).