Earlier this year, an HFW team, led by Senior Associate Matthew Gore working with Partner Alex Kyriakoulis, prepared a report for Jersey Harbours on the draft legislation, with advice and case studies relating to port incorporation programmes and concessions.

On 29 May 2014, the States of Jersey announced a public consultation in relation to the proposal, making available public consultation documents, which reproduce in part the report prepared by HFW. The consultation, which was reported by the BBC, remains open until August 2014.

Speaking about the proposal, Senior Associate Matthew Gore said: "Incorporating a port tends to speed up the decision-making process, as it will in many cases only involve the company's internal decision-making process instead of governmental approval being necessary. In turn, this limits the bureaucracy involved in decision-making, enabling the port to meet developments and market demands more efficiently and flexibly.”

HFW has a market leading ports and terminals practice, with one of the largest teams specialising in legal matters relating to the development and operation of national and international ports and terminals. The team has worked on over 100 port projects in 45 countries worldwide.