Specialist Legal Support for ECW Pre-Transfer Planning

Enterprise Cheshire and Warrington (ECW) is a company limited by guarantee wholly owned by the three unitary authorities in Cheshire and Warrington. It was formerly the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) for the area and brought across its staff, funding role and assets when it transferred to LA ownership in 2024. Cheshire and Warrington is part of the Government's devolution priority programme and will be creating a Combined Authority for the sub-region in Spring 2026. The Combined Authority will take on responsibility for the strategic economic development of Cheshire and Warrington, a role formerly undertaken by the LEP and, more recently, ECW. With the establishment of a new Combined Authority (CA), it is anticipated that some or all functions currently delivered by ECW and CWTB may transfer either to one or more of the sub-region's local authorities, to the CA or to another body. No final decisions have yet been made, and the scope, scale, and nature of any transfer remain under active consideration. The company is seeking to appoint a provider of specialist legal advice to help with those discussions, supporting pre-transfer planning and due diligence on the potential transfer of some or all of ECW's functions, assets, and responsibilities. This support will be commissioned through a retainer and call-off contract. The appointed provider must be able to advise across a broad spectrum of organisational, corporate, public law, employment, and commercial matters, and respond quickly as the transfer landscape becomes clearer.