US Most Favoured Nation (MFN) pricing is often understood as a technical question of pricing rules. In reality, it reshapes incentives in ways that change company behaviour and may leave the UK more exposed, not less.

As a structurally low price market, the UK risks becoming a rational candidate for launch deferral or exclusion. Addressing this will require moving to more dynamic, negotiation-led strategies that reflect how the system actually operates, writes Negotient’s Chris Brown.

Last November’s Railways Bill designed the playing field and broad objectives, but left the detailed playing rules to be agreed. This gap creates both risks and opportunities for future operation of the rail network.

Negotient’s Charles Tarvin sets out how this creates an opening for rail sector partners beyond passenger services to negotiate a reformed operational environment.

Founding Partner James Dowling reflects on two years of Negotient - and what the next few years might hold.

At the Budget, The Chancellor announced that the Local Growth Fund (LGF) would replace the fragmented UK Shared Prosperity Fund, delivering targeted, long-term funding to city regions in the North and Midlands with the highest productivity catch-up potential.

This represented a fundamental shift: from short-term competitive bidding pots to multi-year certainty, from central prescription to local flexibility, from project-by-project grants to integrated settlements. James Dowling sets out how the LGF approach can open the way to new public-private deals with the potential to transform the economic output of English regions.

In this episode of Negotient’s Negotiating Government podcast, David Gauke (Negotient Chair and former Chief Secretary to the Treasury) and John Hall (Negotient Associate and former senior HM Treasury official) dissect the process HM Treasury follows in creating a Budget and the central strategic choice facing Chancellor Rachel Reeves.

What defines a strike? How do strikes differ between the US and UK? In the latest episode of Negotiating Government, the podcast from Negotient, Former UK and US Government negotiators Miranda Worthington and Josh Flax look at the history and practice of strikes in labo(u)r disputes in both the UK and US.

Pfizer has just demonstrated a classic case of first-mover advantage in the fraught arena of US drug pricing reform. Negotient’s Chris Brown says that by settling early with the Trump administration, the US pharma giant has secured terms that may prove more favourable than those available to peers who continue to resist.

The UK government recently launched a new Life Sciences Large Investment Portfolio (LSLIP) scheme, promising £570 million in subsidies for companies investing £250 million or more in UK-based manufacturing and R&D. 

LSLIP launches at a time of unresolved tensions in the commercial environment for pharma in the UK.  But Chris Brown says that for those in a position to move, that very context creates opportunities – with an embattled government seeking to shift toward bespoke, high-value partnerships with individual companies.   

Why is a public-private negotiation so different from a private-private one? In this episode of Negotiating Government, Negotient's Chair, former Cabinet Minister David Gauke, is joined by Negotient Senior Associate Miranda Worthington, former Director of Industrial Relations at the Department for Health and Social Care, to explore the unique challenges and dynamics of negotiating with government.

The creation of Great British Railways (GBR) under the Labour Government’s 2024 reform agenda represents the most significant restructuring of the rail sector in a generation. But as GBR takes shape, a critical question remains: how will the new framework promote the interests of freight in a system dominated by passenger priorities?

Charles Tarvin and Josh Flax consider how a UK version of negotiated rulemaking can help build a system which works for all participants in the new system.

The UK’s new Industrial Strategy sets bold goals for growth in communities across the UK. But, facing tight public finances and even tighter politics, Negotient’s James Dowling says that success requires creative, bespoke, negotiated local deals that align national priorities with local strengths and private investment.

What really happens in a high-stakes negotiation between Donald Trump and Keir Starmer? In this episode of Negotiating Government, Negotient’s Chris Brown and Josh Flax dissect the tactics behind the recent US-UK trade deal—and what it reveals about power, pressure, and process in public-private negotiations. 

In the second episode of Negotiating Government, Former Chief Secretary to the Treasury David Gauke and former Senior Treasury spending official John Hall delve into the 2025 spending review, exploring the government's strategic choices and the challenges they face in balancing fiscal responsibility with urgent public service needs.

Rachel Reeves has been dealt a tough hand – but, as an economist, has played it reasonably well in choosing which areas to prioritise for extra spending. How her plans land politically, given the relative tight settlements for most public services, is less certain. And unless there is a sustained upturn in the economy, even tougher decisions lie ahead.

Former Treasury spending team leader John Hall identifies the key things that happened (and didn’t happen) when Rachel Reeves addressed the House of Commons on June 11^th. What do the choices she made mean for public services, economic growth and future tax bills?

In this inaugural episode of Negotiating Government, the podcast from Negotient, hosts David Gauke and John Hall draw on their extensive backgrounds in Government and HM Treasury, to reflect on what the Spring Statement means for the Spending Review - and the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for those involved in negotiations with the UK public sector.