About Me

I'm a partner in our Tech Transactions team in London where I work closely with our clients to implement digital transformation projects.

I support clients from a wide range of industry sectors, including retail, media, financial services, energy and healthcare.

I have nearly 20 years' experience of advising on a wide range of technology and commercial projects, with a particular focus on large-scale, strategic and transformational projects.

My areas of interest include major cloud/SaaS projects, managed services agreements, ICT/BPO outsourcings, e-commerce solutions, artificial intelligence, blockchain and smart contracts, agile software development, cybersecurity and open source licensing.

Having worked on a broad range of technology projects, I understand the need to work closely with our clients on all aspects of the deal, not just the 'legal' parts. I regularly advise on issues such as the initial strategic planning and project structuring, risk allocation, pricing models, performance incentives and service continuity assurance.

I also bring strong project management skills to my work. I pride myself on supporting our clients through the full lifecycle of their project, from the initial tender and vendor selection process, through the contract negotiation phase, to ongoing contract management and renegotiation, and ultimately to termination and exit arrangements.
Experience
  • The UK Department of Energy and Climate Change on the £12bn Smart Metering Implementation Programme, involving the procurement and implementation of the IT and communications services required for the rollout of 53m smart gas and electricity meters across Great Britain.
  • A FTSE 100 hospitality company on its digital transformation programme, involving a transition to a more flexible and agile IT infrastructure, including increased use of cloud technology. This transformation programme has covered a number of different elements of the business, including its core IT infrastructure, HR and workforce management solutions, payment and treasury systems, marketing and loyalty programmes and online sales channels.
  • T-Mobile on the renegotiation of its 3G network sharing arrangements with Hutchison UK following the UK merger of T-Mobile and Orange.
  • A large US banking group on the implementation and hosting of a pan-EU payment processing platform
  • A FTSE 100 retailer on a global communications outsourcing deal.
Education

Studied

  • University of Oxford, BA, Law

Admissions

  • The Law Society of England & Wales in 2001
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Testimonials

A client says: 'I love working with him. He's pragmatic, flexible and dedicated and goes above and beyond on numerous occasions'.

Chambers UK

Ranked as a 'Next Generation Lawyer', Ian is noted as being 'very pragmatic and commercial'.

Legal 500

Ian Edwards is 'great to work with', 'extremely responsive and helpful' and 'great in negotiations'.

Chambers UK

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