Client: British Energy

Gerald Eve has advised British Energy since its privatisation, with a brief to identify ways to help save costs and to make its property management systems more efficient. In the first year of our appointment, we saved it over £5m stemming from rates assessments, rent reviews, the management of contractors and handling licences for alterations, for instance.

Hunterston B is one of the largest facilities in its portfolio. Located in Ayrshire on the west coast of Scotland, the site comprises over 200 buildings which include the nuclear reactors, turbine hall, production buildings, storage facilities, repair shops, administrative offices and a host of other support and infrastructure facilities.

One of our roles is effective site management, an example of which is to ensure that a private road - along which spent fuel is transported in secure flasks to a railhead for onward transfer to Sellafield - is safe and properly maintained. Most recently, the temporary closure of the plant due to unforeseen circumstances - which effectively reduced the generation output to nil - has prompted us to proactively negotiate a reduction in rateable value with the Scottish Assessors, amounting to over £5m for the period of the station shutdown.