Course overview
Transform your approach to contract management with this practical, expert-led training course designed for commercial and contracts professionals who want to maximise value while minimising risk.
This course focusses on contracts from a commercial perspective, rather than just as a legal document. It provides insights into how to successfully ensure projects/contracts are completed, with practical remedies, rather than just focussing on monetary compensation, so disputes and costly litigation are avoided. By learning how to turn aspirations into clear contractual obligations and ensuring both parties have the same expectations, alongside agreeing practical governance of pre-agreed processes to capture opportunities and minimise potential risks.
Key topics covered include:
- Master contract fundamentals: Cut through legal complexity and jargon by learning a proven framework to analyse commercial contracts. Understand how statutory requirements and negotiated terms work together and master a simple three-category system: (i) promises/obligations, (ii) procedures/governance, and (iii) liabilities/consequences that makes contract reviewing straightforward and systematic.
- Turn contracts into strategic tools: Move beyond compliance to strategic advantage. Learn how to use a contracts as a proactive risk management instrument, reassigning liability to protect your organisation's interests.
- Build stakeholder alignment: Reflect on the interdependency of the relationship and shared objectives - if one party fails the project fails. Develop practical action plans that bring internal teams and external partners together around clearly assigned contract obligations and responsibilities. You'll learn how to facilitate collaboration, manage expectations and ensure everyone understands their role in achieving contract success.
- Anticipate and mitigate risk: Gain the skills to spot potential challenges before they critically impact the project and cause disputes. You'll learn systematic approaches to risk identification, analysis and mitigation, that protect your bottom line,and preserve relations.
- Implement with confidence: Leave with a logical, comprehensive methodology for reading, managing and implementing contracts that delivers results. You'll know exactly what's required from you, your team, and your contracting partners to meet legal obligations while achieving business objectives.
This highly interactive training course combines expert instruction with practical application. The expert trainer uses a mix of real-world case studies, workshop exercises, and practical examples drawn from commercial experience, alongside the theory, to enable you to develop immediately applicable skills and takeaway tools.
CPD Hours: 12
Course Content
- Day 1
- The purpose and structure of an express term contract
- Protection: Ensuring the contract is legally binding
- Structure of an express term contract
- Express Term Promise clauses
- Day 2
- Express Term Procedural clauses
- Express Term Consequence / liability clauses
- Pro-active risk management methodology
- Proactive risk management process
Speakers
Catherine Hurst
Catherine Hurst BSc(Hons), CIMDip, PgDL, is an independent consultant in the contract and commercial fields. She was formerly a Commercial Manager at BAe Systems, following previous contract/commercial roles with GEC and Siemens. She has extensive practical experience of bid management, contract drafting and negotiation, contract and subcontract management as well as commercial risk management, both with UK and overseas customers and suppliers, in the private and public sectors.
She is a highly experienced trainer, having a style which brings a subject to life, creating interest and stimulating the enthusiasm of delegates. She combines academic best practice with real world experience.
She lecturers Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS) diploma, levels 4, 5 & 6 at Chichester college. As well as being a member of CIPS, Catherine has a degree in Management Studies, a Chartered Institute of Marketing diploma and more recently achieved a distinction in her Common Professional Examination (CPE)/Post-grad diploma in law, winning the prize for the highest achieving student in the contract law module.
Catherine has successfully provided training to organisations across a wide variety of industries, including:
Transport / utilities / energy / construction / engineering / IT / telecons: Network Rail, ScotRail, Balfour Beatty, London Underground, Westinghouse Springfields Fuels, General Dynamics, Siemens, Metronet, Thales, ABB, Hitachi, Jungheinrich, Honeywell, PALL Europe, Senior Aerospace BWT, RES (Renewable Energy Systems), AGI, Silvertown, QinetiQ, Clyde Pumps / Weir Pumps, Scottish Power, NCOC (North Caspian Operating Company), Computacentre, CISCO, BT, United Utilities
Health / pharmaceutical / education: Nuffield Health, Surrey PCT, Bristol Myers-Squibb, Newcastle University, Exeter University
Public: Forensic Science Services, Office for National Statistics, DARA (Defence Aviation Repair Agency), Metropolitan Police
Charity: Phoenix Futures, Homegroup
Retail: Co-op
