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JCT AWARDS ITS OWN CONTRCT TO PR FIRM
05 February 2007

The Joint Contracts Tribunal, better known as JCT, has appointed Chelgate Limited to handle its public affairs and public relations briefs.

Established in 1931, JCT has long been recognised as the leading producer of standard forms of contracts, guidance notes and other standard documentation for use in the construction industry.

Chelgate’s initial brief is to handle the launch of a new collaborative contract, the JCT- Constructing Excellence Contract, to be staged at the House of Commons in the early spring.

Professor Peter Hibberd, secretary-general of JCT said: “JCT is at a stage in its evolution where it needed to have a greater vocal presence in government and in the industry as a whole. Chelgate certainly met our requirements in this respect and we look forward to working closely with its team.

“The firm is probably unique in having a senior executive who just happens to have previously worked in the construction industry as a company secretary regularly dealing with JCT forms of contract.”

Chelgate has a long record in the construction and property sectors, at all levels. The JCT account team will be led by Michael Hardware, executive vice-president, who has been with Chelgate for 13 years. He said: “I thought my days of dealing with construction contracts were long gone, having moved out of that field some 18 years ago. My background will certainly be of use to JCT - contracts are both an interesting and important part of the construction industry as they are instrumental in defining commercial relationships, an area which the industry has strived to improve in recent years.”

Nick Wood-Dow, Chelgate’s chairman of client services, will be undertaking the public affairs work on the account.

The public relations and public affairs programmes will be implemented in conjunction with Sweet & Maxwell, part of the Thomson Group, who are JCT’s publisher.

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