Commercial Advisor for the delivery of Finance Services relating to divestments in line with the Council's recovery plan

A direct award is considered permissible under PA2023 (Section 41,

Schedule 5 applies) where competition is not reasonably possible,

including situations where:

Only one supplier is capable of delivering the requirement due to

technical or specialist reasons, or

A change of supplier would cause significant inconvenience,

duplication of costs, or substantial risk to delivery.

These conditions align with the Council's situation, as Calderstones

holds unique, embedded understanding of the divestment

programme that cannot be replicated by an alternative supplier

without unacceptable disruption.

Explicitly:

1. Extensive reconstruction of knowledge: A new adviser would

require substantial time to reacquire programme history,

understand past decisions, interpret legacy modelling, and rebuild

the analytical framework that Calderstones already maintain. This

would occupy months of effort with no guaranteed accuracy.

2. Re‑evaluation and duplication of completed work: A

replacement supplier would need to re‑perform valuation work,

interrogate historical financial models, validate assumptions, and

re‑open previously settled strategic decisions. This duplication

would generate unnecessary cost while adding no additional value.

3 ) Loss of strategic continuity: The programme is highly

interdependent; the logic of earlier decisions informs current

actions. Without Calderstones' insight into why those decisions

were taken, there is a high risk of fragmentation, inconsistent

advice, or misalignment with the established strategy.

4. Delay to time‑critical activities: Divestment actions are sensitive

to market timing, regulatory milestones, investor sentiment, and

contractual obligations. Any delay in adviser capability-while a

new provider becomes familiar with the programme-introduces

direct financial and commercial risk to the Council.