Burges Salmon has closed a substantial private finance initiative (PFI) project on behalf of the London Fire & Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA) after two-and-a-half years of competition and negotiation.

The pathfinder project, in which the Home Office invested £45m, is the first PFI for any
UK fire and emergency planning authority. Partner Richard Wynn-Jones led the deal, which the firm won in 1998 after a beauty parade comprising mostly London firms.