FTSE 100 water company Severn Trent Water has refreshed its legal services panel for the first time in five years, appointing five firms following a tender process.

Eversheds Sutherland, DWF, Burges Salmon, Pennington Manches Cooper and Shakespeare Maritneau have all won places on the new panel after a "highly competitive tender process", according to a statement by the utilities giant.

DWF has been appointed to a key role to provide the legal services retainer. According to a statement by the firm, these include matters relating to construction, commercial, employment, procurement law, regulatory, environmental, regulatory prosecutions, health and safety, disputes and litigation, data privacy, intellectual property, competition, renewables, planning and real estate.

The new panel will run for three years and is valued at £8 million.

Previously, Severn Trent has operated under a sole legal adviser structure, with Eversheds holding on to the position since 2010, having been reappointed in 2012 for a further three years, then again in 2015 for a further five-year term.

Head of legal at Severn Trent, Shazadi Stinton said in a statement: "It was a very competitive tender and we firmly believe we've picked the firms that can help us drive costs down for our customers while also offering us the benefits of their experience and innovative ideas."

Last year, National Grid dropped three firms from its legal panel following a review, adding a newcomer, while last month, BT said it planned to slash its current 37-strong panel to enable "few, deeper relationships with our panel firms".