Commercial & Contract Management Consultants

About Us

Blake Newport is a multidisciplinary consultancy with global experience, successfully delivering commercial management, planning, dispute resolution and Expert Witness services for over 40 years to the construction, engineering and outsourcing industries. These range from public infrastructure projects in transport, energy and water supply, to public and private construction and engineering projects in numerous sectors through to major PFI and IT outsourcing contracts in both the public and private sectors.

We support domestic and international clients in the UK, Europe and further afield in USA, South Africa, Bahrain, Japan, Malaysia, India and Oman.

The Team

None of this would be possible without the high calibre of our team. Recognising that each of our clients’ demands is unique, we deliver a bespoke service to suit our clients’ needs and wants. Blake Newport consultants are highly experienced, mobile, adaptive and can call upon a significant pool of knowledge within the business, bringing our clients a unique problem-solving ability.  

Meet The Team…

Article 4 – How people in different project job roles can contribute to avoiding disputes

How people in different project job roles can contribute to avoiding disputesIn this series of 9 articles, Blake Newport sets out good practice and provides the benefit of 40 years’ expertise in supporting our clients negotiate the commercial contract minefield across all construction sectors in the UK and overseas. In the fourth article in the series, Gary Bone discusses common project job roles and how people in those roles can contribute to avoiding disputes. Construction disputes are not...

Article 3 – Commercial systems and processes at project commencement

Commercial systems and processes at project commencementIn this series of 9 articles, Blake Newport sets out good practice and provides the benefit of 40 years’ expertise in supporting our clients negotiate the commercial contract minefield across all construction sectors in the UK and overseas. In the third article in the series, Gary Bone considers some of the systems and processes that should be put in place at the start of construction to manage the key elements of a project that most...

Article 2 – Risk identification and Handover to the delivery team

Risk identification and Handover to the delivery team In this series of 9 articles, Blake Newport sets out good practice and provides the benefit of 40 years’ expertise in supporting our clients negotiate the commercial contract minefield across all construction sectors in the UK and overseas. In the second article in the series, Gary Bone considers retained risk and handover from the bid team to the delivery team and how failure to in this area could lead to disputes. Risk ownership – is it...

Article 1 – Agreeing the Contract.

Agreeing the ContractIn this series of 9 articles, Blake Newport sets out good practice and provides the benefit of 40 years’ expertise in supporting our clients negotiate the commercial contract minefield across all construction sectors in the UK and overseas.  In the first article in the series, Gary Bone considers what contracting parties can do when agreeing the contract to help avoid disputes occurring from the outset. Amendments and careful drafting There is a reason why standard form...

Inflation in material prices.

The inflation of material prices has become a serious cause for concern for all involved in the industry. The shutdown of many factories during COVID-19 led to a serious shortage of materials that drove up prices. This issue will now be worsened and prolonged by inflation of fuel prices as a result of recent events in Ukraine. Over the last year, Blake Newport has supported numerous clients with inflation-related issues, from reviewing provisions in both potential and existing contracts, to...

The NEC programme: stimulus to good management, or fertile ground for claimsmanship?

Why is NEC programme acceptance so important? The rationale that underpins the NEC is its strapline, 'a stimulus to good management'. The contract is both procedural and prescriptive, and a key contractual document is the NEC programme.The importance of the programme on an NEC project cannot be overstated. Not only is it afforded contractual status - which is atypical when compared with other standard forms - but failure to achieve acceptance obligates the Project Manager to assess the impact...