Gowling WLG and Womble Bond Dickinson are among five firms to have been appointed to the Insolvency Service's (IS) legal panel following its first review in five years.

IS, an executive agency of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), has recruited all five for a two-year contract with the potential to extend the contract for a further two years.

According to a spokesperson for the IS, the anticipated value of the initial contract is £16 million.

Gowling and Womble Bond Dickinson are being re-appointed to the panel alongside Howes Percival. TLT and Mills & Reeve, both new additions, complete the line-up.

A spokesperson for the IS said the invitation for firms to tender was issued last November, contracts were awarded mid-February and came into effect last month.

The new framework will provide legal advice on investigation misconduct and directors' disqualification proceedings through the courts in the name of the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, advice on public interest winding-up proceedings, disqualification investigations and costs recovery.

Gowling client leads Davinia Gransbury and Kathy Garside have acted for the service for 25 years and 22 years respectively.

Gransbury said in a statement: "Our team has continuously worked with the Insolvency Service in supporting its aims of delivering economic confidence and tackling financial misconduct. We look forward to strengthening our relationship with the client even further over the next two years."

TLT's pitch was led by disputes partner Jon Hainey, who joined TLT from DWF in May last year, while insolvency partners Sally Dallow and Peter Maxwell led for Womble Bond Dickinson.

Manchester-based insolvency partner Helen Fyles is leading on the IS work for Mills & Reeve.

Howes Percival's client leads are Norwich-based insolvency partners Morris Peacock and William Shirley.

Peacock commented: "We are delighted with our reappointment to the Insolvency Service panel and look forward to working with [its] teams across the UK in the coming years."

In 2014, when the IS last conducted a review, DWF lodged a claim against the government over the tender process that saw the firm lose out to Shepherd and Wedderburn on a panel place.