Shoosmiths LLP

Abi is a Senior Associate working in the Real Estate team in Leeds. She has a wide experience in varying aspects of property law with a particular focus on development and landlord and tenant matters. Her recent project experience includes advising on: • agreements for lease and occupational leases of convenience stores for a leading UK supermarket chain; • the ongoing management of the portfolio of properties owned by a leading motorway service stations operator in the UK; • the acquisition of development land by leading institutional investors acquiring and developing buy to rent and single family housing schemes; • strategic options and onward sales of development land where the end use is a mix of residential and residential care; and • a range of leading UK Banks on development and acquisition funding of various high value sites nationally.

Partner

Anna leads the Shoosmiths' Belfast banking and finance team. Anna advises clients including corporate borrowers, financial institutions and specialist funders on a range of transactions including energy finance, real estate finance and corporate banking. Anna works closely with our Financial Services and Energy and Infrastructure Sector heads in delivering these transactions. Anna has worked on a wide variety of transactions to include: acting for a national bank on the restructuring of two UK based Shopping Centres; acting for a national bank on the acquisition finance of two UK based wind farms; acting for a Hong Kong based fund restructuring facilities in order to provide on-going mezzanine funding to a corporate borrower; advising an alternative funder (in its capacity as borrower) on a £30mil back to back syndicated facility; and advising various national and alternative funders on the implementation of government backed loan schemes to include bank accreditation, CBILS and CLBILS. Anna is dual qualified and regularly practices in both Northern Ireland and England & Wales jurisdictions.

Bob is a specialist planning lawyer with over 25 years’ experience. He has also held senior positions in local government including the post of City Solicitor and Monitoring Officer at Leeds City Council. He specialises in large scale regeneration and infrastructure projects including the use of compulsory purchase (CPO) powers. Recent experience includes:- Acting for the 5 partner local authorities to provide development management, policy and CPO advice in connection with the Harlow and Gilston Garden Town Project to deliver c 23,000 dwellings over a 30-year period. Acting for York City Council on CPO and planning issues associated with the delivery of the York Outer Ring Road (YORR). Acting for Leeds City Council on the promotion of development plan documents including the Aire Valley Area Action Plan. Acting for Herefordshire Council on the successful adoption of their Gypsy and Traveller Development Plan Document. Acting for Cheshire East Council on planning and CPO issues relating to the promotion of two major highway schemes (Middlewich Eastern Bypass and A500)

Charles is a Legal Director in the Real Estate Division. He has experience of all aspects of real estate work and specialises in acting for investors, developers and funders in relation to investment sales/purchases, commercial, mixed use and residential developments, forward sales/purchases, forward fundings, and lettings. Charles has particular sector expertise in relation to build to rent, mixed use and healthcare transactions (including care homes, retirement villages and primary care centres). Recent experience includes: acting on the purchase of a residential-led mixed use city centre development for a London-based property fund; acting on the purchase of a major city centre office building and the forward funding of a build to rent development/conversion for a London-based property fund; acting for a local authority in relation to a major mixed use town centre redevelopment, including cinema, food and beverage lettings and a retail lease re-gear; acquiring a development site for a retirement village developer and advising on structuring and set-up issues in relation to the development; and managing the team acting for the landlord of a major city centre shopping centre in relation to retail unit lettings.  

Charlotte is a Legal Director in the Banking and Finance team, based in our Leeds office. Charlotte specialises in acquisition and leveraged finance transactions, as well as having experience advising banks, financial institutions and corporates in relation to general corporate banking and growth finance. She is listed as an Associate to Watch in Chambers and Partners. Charlotte's experience includes: acting for an aerospace group in relation to its debt facilities from a US fund, alongside asset financing from a UK lender, including debt to equity conversion steps; advising the a large venture capital investor on a number of VCT lending matters; acting for a management team in their capacity as junior creditors alongside senior funding provided by a club of banks, as part of a private equity investment into the business; advising the borrowing group on acquisition financing provided by an alternative lender for an MBO; acting for an education group on its banking facilities to fund its acquisitive aims; advising a clearing bank on its financing of the purchase of a Midlands based wholesale foods business by its founders; and acting for a lender in respect of a number of commercial loans to fund customer acquisitions.  

Christian is a Principal Associate, data, privacy and regulatory lawyer whose practice spans a broad spectrum of data governance, data regulation (antitrust, privacy and sectoral) and cybersecurity related work. Christian is versed in a multitude of privacy laws, including GDPR, the PECRs (and related cookie-law), CCPA and PIPEDA, while his wider regulatory experience involves advising on antitrust, data governance and market access laws, law enforcement access & lawful intercept, and sector/industry-specific laws and codes of practice (including HIPPA, SOX, DORA, ISO information security standards and PCI-DSS). This mix of experience makes Christian uniquely placed to assist multi-national organisations in navigating a range of cross-border compliance issues, from implementing global privacy programs and advising on cross-border data breaches, complex strategic or transactions matters (such as outsourcing or digital transformation global), as well as advising on novel or higher-risk technologies (e.g., MarTech, AI-regulation, blockchain, crypto-tech, NFTs, metaverse etc.). Representative engagements include: Assisting multiple organisations in navigating data transfer compliance, including Schrems II compliance, model clauses and docking arrangements, transfer risk assessments (having conducted over 20 TRAs in 2022) and negotiating supplementary security measures. Advised a number of organisations in the acquisition of Binding Corporate Rules, including acting on one of the UK’s first post-Brexit standalone BCR applications for a leading Ed-tech provider. Conducted an international data mapping and compliance project for a Japanese automotive manufacturer. Assisted a large timeshare and resort provider with its global privacy & data compliance efforts, including data mapping, vendor management, revision of existing privacy and information security policies, use of MarTech and cookie compliance. Advising on multiple intra-group data transfer arrangements for companies spanning a broad range of sectors (e.g., banking, social media, telecommunications, heavy industry, automotive etc.). Advised a global bank on a $100m+ outsourcing arrangement with an edge-to-cloud provider, including negotiating contractual arrangements with vendors, drafting information security schedules and advising on associated data transfers issues. Advised a major social networking company on both privacy and antitrust aspects of its acquisition of a popular OTT messaging platform. Advice to a global credit rating agency on a range of privacy matters, including the use of AI-enabled decision-making technologies. Advice to various telecos, ISPs and digital advertising agencies on PECR compliance, use of location data and compliant data monetization strategies. Working with a multitude of automotive manufacturers on a range of privacy matters associated with connected car technology and law enforcement access to data. MarTech and privacy advice to a range of industry leaders, publishers and digital advertising agencies on TP cookie sunsetting. Advice to a leading provider of coworking on its global use of AI-enabled CCTV. Advised a global electronics manufacturer in a global data incident involving regulatory filings in over 30 jurisdictions.

  Christian is a data, privacy and regulatory lawyer whose practice spans a broad spectrum of data governance, data regulation (antitrust, privacy and sectoral) and cybersecurity related work. Christian is versed in a multitude of privacy laws, including GDPR, the PECRs (and related cookie-law), CCPA and PIPEDA, while his wider regulatory experience involves advising on antitrust, data governance and market access laws, law enforcement access & lawful intercept, and sector/industry-specific laws and codes of practice (including HIPPA, SOX, DORA, ISO information security standards and PCI-DSS). This mix of experience makes Christian uniquely placed to assist multi-national organisations in navigating a range of cross-border compliance issues, from implementing global privacy programs and advising on cross-border data breaches, complex strategic or transactions matters (such as outsourcing or digital transformation global), as well as advising on novel or higher-risk technologies (e.g., MarTech, AI-regulation, blockchain, crypto-tech, NFTs, metaverse etc.). Christian trained and practised in the Brussels office of a US law firm, before moving in-house, most recently as General Counsel & Data Protection Officer for an international security organization, before joining Shoosmiths in 2021. Representative engagements include: Assisting multiple organisations in navigating data transfer compliance, including Schrems II compliance, model clauses and docking arrangements, transfer risk assessments (having conducted over 20 TRAs in 2022) and negotiating supplementary security measures. Advised a number of organisations in the acquisition of Binding Corporate Rules, including acting on one of the UK’s first post-Brexit standalone BCR applications for a leading Ed-tech provider. Conducted an international data mapping and compliance project for a Japanese automotive manufacturer. Assisted a large timeshare and resort provider with its global privacy & data compliance efforts, including data mapping, vendor management, revision of existing privacy and information security policies, use of MarTech and cookie compliance. Advising on multiple intra-group data transfer arrangements for companies spanning a broad range of sectors (e.g., banking, social media, telecommunications, heavy industry, automotive etc.). Advised a global bank on a $100m+ outsourcing arrangement with an edge-to-cloud provider, including negotiating contractual arrangements with vendors, drafting information security schedules and advising on associated data transfers issues. Advised a major social networking company on both privacy and antitrust aspects of its acquisition of a popular OTT messaging platform. Advice to a global credit rating agency on a range of privacy matters, including the use of AI-enabled decision-making technologies. Advice to various telecos, ISPs and digital advertising agencies on PECR compliance, use of location data and compliant data monetization strategies. Working with a multitude of automotive manufacturers on a range of privacy matters associated with connected car technology and law enforcement access to data. MarTech and privacy advice to a range of industry leaders, publishers and digital advertising agencies on TP cookie sunsetting. Advice to a leading provider of coworking on its global use of AI-enabled CCTV. Advised a global electronics manufacturer in a global data incident involving regulatory filings in over 30 jurisdictions.

Christine has over 12 years’ experience as a non-contentious construction lawyer. Christine acts for clients across both the public and private sector.  Her work involves negotiating building contracts, bonds, guarantees, collateral warranties, professional appointments and construction aspects of development agreements and agreements for lease. Her recent projects experience includes: Advising a developer on a number of high profile city centre developments including the preparation and negotiation of building contracts, appointments, warranties and security documentation; Advising investors in shopping centres and retail parks on their construction projects relating to the operation of and extension to the centres.  In addition advising the investors on the construction elements of the sale of such assets; Acting for a local authority on a large town centre re-development project including retail, cinema and car parks; Advising funders on a variety of construction projects.  

Chris is a real estate lawyer with over 15 years’ experience of a mix of commercial property transactions advising both companies and public sector clients. His experience includes: Acting for an acquisitional discount retail food store and one of the main fast-food drive thru operators, working on conditional contracts and development agreements for lease. Working on acquisitions, sales, development agreements and a key leisure restructuring project for a north-west local authority. Regeneration including acquisitions, development agreements and development agreements for lease – private rented sector, retail and leisure including a performance venue. Hotel acquisitions including development agreements and sale and lease back arrangements. Looking after the property interests of an air services operator at Leeds Bradford Airport. The disposition of a strategic East Yorkshire site to a multi-national manufacturing company. Advising landowners on renewable projects for in-shore wind and solar farm development. Acting for a local independent school including with neighbouring properties after a major redevelopment.

Partner

  David is a Legal Director and advises on a wide range of non-contentious property issues, but with particular focus on high-value and complex strategic land and development transactions, advising on all aspects from initial site assembly through to disposal for residential, commercial and mixed-use.  David also has experience of advising on general acquisitions and disposals, particularly in connection with brownfield industrial land and of corporate support and secured lending transactions. David advises a wide range of clients including developers, national housebuilders, retailers and manufacturers.  Current and previous clients include Henry Boot Plc, Countryside Properties Plc, Santander UK Plc, HSBC Bank Plc and Sheffield Hallam University. Recent work includes: acting for the developer in a large mixed-use scheme including the sale to various national housebuilders of 1,000 houses and to a national supermarket of a major regional distribution centre; acting for the developer on various sites in connection with planning promotion and option agreements, together with onward disposals valued at between £5 million to £25 million to national housebuilders; completing the disposal of a number of brownfield sites for an international steel manufacturer; advising an off-shore fund on the charging and subsequent disposal of a significant national student accommodation portfolio; and advising a major financial institution in connection with a reorganisation of its property interests.

Partner

Edell is a Partner in the real estate team specialising in residential and commercial development, strategic land and healthcare. Key areas of her work include: advising developers and land promoters in relation to large scale strategic land transactions involving complex site assembly issues, land promotion agreements, option agreements and collaboration and equalization agreements; acting for regional and national housebuilders, strategic land developers and care home/retirement village developers; and acting on behalf of a leading motorway service area operator in relation to the development and management of its network of UK MSAs, including Cobham MSA (M25) and Beaconsfield MSA (M40) and most recently the development of the new Leeds Skelton Lake MSA on the M1.

Emma is an experienced commercial litigator who advises on high value commercial disputes.Emma has significant experience in acting for large international organisations, PLCs and SMEs as well as private individuals. Emma has particular experience in advising clients in complex contractual, shareholder, warranty, confidential information, professional negligence and pensions disputes. She has represented clients seeking High Court interim injunctive relief, including Freezing Orders and advised on Search and Seizure Orders.She has represented clients in the High Court and has adopted many forms of Alternative Dispute Resolution including mediation and arbitration.Emma also specialises in acting for employers and senior employees in relation to the enforcement of restrictive covenants and has experience of High Court unfair competition actions. She can also advise employers and employees alike in relation to team moves.Emma is a very capable ambitious lawyer and an invaluable part of both the Leeds and national dispute resolution teams. Clients and colleagues continue to praise Emma for her thorough yet common sense approach to litigation. As well as her legal work Emma is also on the firm’s National Equality and Diversity working group, leads the Leeds Office’s inclusion and diversity programme and is one of its mental health and wellbeing champions.

Faith is an Associate in the construction team at Shoosmiths based in the Leeds office and qualified as a solicitor in March 2021, but has 3 years' prior experience in the team before qualification. Faith specialises in non-contentious construction law and has experience in drafting, negotiating and advising on professional appointments, novations, collateral warranties and other third party rights agreements, Faith has experience in a variety of sectors including development finance work, forward funding and conventional development projects acting for developers, forward funders, banks, purchasers and tenants. 

Heather is a Principal Associate real estate lawyer who qualified as a solicitor in 2013 and has experience in a broad range of real estate transactions advising investors, developers, landlords, tenants and banks. Sectors Heather is passionate about include residential and commercial development and energy and infrastructure projects. Her recent project experience includes advising: - landowners on an energy from waste, onshore wind and a bioenergy (anaerobic digestion) projects in East Yorkshire; - both buyers and funders in respect of forward funding development projects; - an investor by way of general real estate support on a £2 billion property investment portfolio; - a promoter in respect of both residential and commercial development projects; - a buyer on a £104,000,000 acquisition; and - a range of leading UK Banks on refinancing various high value sites both locally and nationally.

Helen is an principal associate in the real estate team. Helen advises on all aspects of commercial property including acquisitions, disposals, lettings, developments, strategic land and financings. Helen acts for developers, investors, landlords and tenants principally in the student, residential and leisure sectors. Helen is a lead transaction lawyer for Select Property Group and advises on the acquisition and funding of complex sites for development as student and residential accommodation. Helen advises on all aspects of a transaction from the acquisition and funding to restructures, disposals, ground rent sales and commercial lettings. Helen's clients include Urban Splash, Muse, James Hall, Hallam Land and HSBC. Helen is known to clients for being “friendly, tenacious, calm under pressure and a pleasure to deal with”.

Helen is a Legal Director real estate lawyer with wide experience in all aspects of commercial property law in particular development work and Landlord and Tenant work (experience working for both). Helen has experience acting for developers (in particular care home developers), investor clients and corporate occupier clients and currently specialises in strategic site acquisitions for development.  

  Holly joined Shoosmiths’ real estate team in March 2017, having qualified in 2016 at Irwin Mitchell. Holly, a senior associate, advises and assists with a wide range of commercial property matters, with particular emphasis on strategic land deals, initially dealing with the due diligence involved in site assembly and then on all advice to make sites "market ready" through to disposals.  Holly also assists with urban regeneration schemes and corporate transactions.  Holly has spent time in-house with a leading PLC development client and is well regarded as a lawyer who is a "pleasure to work with".

James is an experienced commercial infrastructure lawyer, who has advised on major capital projects across a variety of sectors in the UK and overseas, including energy from waste, renewable energy, transport, education, health, leisure, and serviced accommodation. James is a recognised specialist in the waste sector having advised at procuring authority, sponsor or funder level on more than twenty waste PPP projects in the UK, Europe, the GCC and Africa.  In recent years, James has advised on a significant number of renewable energy projects, including the acquisition, disposal, financing and refinancing of onshore wind and large scale solar PV projects and rooftop solar PV schemes involving local authorities and housing associations.  He also has considerable experience of advising generators, end-users/off-takers and licensed suppliers on power purchase agreements, including corporate/end-user PPAs  and heat supply agreements and district heating projects. His recent experience includes: advising a West Yorkshire local authority on the procurement of its waste management PPP project and advising a major UK waste business on its successful bid for a waste PPP project in Scotland; advising a leading Chinese solar manufacturer and developer on the drafting and negotiation of EPC and O&M contracts on several ground-mounted solar PV projects and advising on the disposal of its developed sites; advising Taiwan's leading solar PV panel manufacturer on all of its UK housing association rooftop solar PV projects; advising a leading UK bank on the negotiation and completion of its power purchase agreement with an operator of a portfolio of landfill gas power plants, which provides sufficient electricity to meet 20% of the bank's energy requirements; advising an onshore wind developer on its end-user power purchase agreements with two large corporates and advising the developer and funder of a large onshore wind farm in Scotland on its Contract for Difference (CfD) PPA; advising a national infrastructure business on heat supply agreements with a school and a residential development in respect of heat generated by the transformers in a major substation being constructed in Highbury, North London; and advising the UK’s leading airline on its project agreement governing its move from the North Terminal to the South Terminal at Gatwick.

James leads Shoosmiths’ Corporate North teams (Edinburgh, Glasgow, Belfast, Manchester and Leeds) and heads our Northern Private Equity practice and is nationally recognised for his private equity expertise. James specialises in corporate finance, with particular emphasis on M&A and private equity transactions, including acquisitions and divestments, venture capital, growth equity, private equity investments and joint ventures. He is recognised by clients for his hands-on and responsive approach, technical skills and commercial pragmatism. James’ client base includes acquisitive international corporates, US and European sponsors, private equity backed investee companies and UK private equity and venture capital investors.   Recent experience includes advising: LDC on its sale and subsequent co-investment with Francisco Partners in ByBox; WM Morrison Supermarkets plc on the acquisition of three superstores from the Co-operative Group; Capiton AG (via its investee company the Dec Group) on the acquisition of Extract Technology from Wabash National Corporation; August Equity on its divestment of the Aspirations Group to Elysian Capital, by way of secondary buy-out; shareholders of Coppergreen Leisure Resorts on their exit to Away Resorts (backed by CVC Capital Partners Fund VII); shareholders of NSS Group on their exit to PTSG Group (backed by both Warburg Pincus and Macquirie Capital); Ellis Recruitment Group on its investment from Mobeus Equity Partners; Capfun on the acquisition of Lakeshore Leisure Group from Kings Park Capital and Management; Azets (backed by PAI Partners and Hg Capital) on numerous bolt on acquisitions in England and Ireland; Latus Health on its acquisition of ELAS Occupational Health and Industrial Diagnostics Group from Citation; Management of Building Costs Information Service Limited, a carve out from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, on its investment by LDC; shareholders of Taskmaster Resources on their sale to IPE Ventures; shareholders of BYM-Digival to Nurtur Group (backed by Tosca Fund); YFM Equity Partners in respect of their investment alongside Comhar Capital in Panintelligence; investment into Force 24; their co-investment alongside Maven Capital Partners into Summize Group; and Yorkshire Wildlife Group on its debt and equity raise from Lloyds Bank plc and BGF.

James is a commercial and projects lawyer, working in the green energy sector for almost 10 years across technologies including wind, solar, and green hydrogen. James spent three years in-house before returning to practice with Shoosmiths, and provides clear, to-the-point advice focussed on his clients’ objectives and commercial “big picture”. James advises widely on all commercial matters, including B2B and B2C commercial contract terms, and has experience delivering critical commercial contracts for green energy clients at critical stages of the realisation of new capital projects, including: manufacturing (including TSAs, EPCs, and electrolyser supply contracts) maintenance (both long and short term, whether or not supported by performance guarantees) energy offtake (including on- and off-site PPAs and hydrogen fuel offtake agreements) strategic partnerships (including commercial partnership agreements, framework contracts, joint ventures, and transitional services) James also advises on legal compliance and matters of energy regulation related to businesses in the green energy space. James joined Shoosmiths after working for three years as senior legal counsel at ITM Power, the Sheffield-based AIM-listed manufacturer of green hydrogen electrolysers. Over three years in-house James advised the business on key sale, maintenance, and supply contracts, and provided legal support on key strategic projects, including the establishment of a hydrogen mobility joint venture as well as three complex equity investment rounds totalling almost £500m.

Jim is a partner in Shoosmiths’ real estate team with over 20 years’ experience specialising in investment and development work with a particular focus on industrial and logistics schemes.  His recent experience includes: • Acting for a main market listed REIT on their c£500m investment UK portfolio in respect of acquisitions, disposals, financing arrangement and ongoing asset management; • Advising a regional developer on the strategic site assembly and realisation of a 1.5m sq ft logistics scheme in West Yorkshire and a c1m sq ft logistics scheme within South Yorkshire; • Acting on the forward funding and sale of two 500,000+ sq ft distribution warehouses within the M62 West Yorkshire corridor for a regional developer; • Acting for two different developers on the sale of 2 big box warehouse development sites in Yorkshire and the North East to a well known internet retailer; • Acting on the forward funding, development, letting and sale of a landmark office building within Leeds city centre; • Acting for a global property adviser on the disposal of its London office HQ.

Jennifer is a Legal Director in the Commercial team, who has over 15 years of experience in advising clients in both the public and private sectors on major commercial, infrastructure and technology projects. Jennifer leads the non-contentious public procurement and subsidy control advisory team at Shoosmiths, providing pragmatic, commercial advice to clients (including charities) on mitigating procurement risk and compliance with the subsidy control regime in the UK. Jennifer has specialist experience in advising procuring authorities, developers, funders, suppliers and contractors on projects in the Energy & Infrastructure and Transport sectors. Jennifer also frequently advises procuring authorities and contractors in Real Estate development and Technology projects.

Jonathan specialises in Finance Litigation and primarily acts on behalf of a wide range of asset finance clients on recoveries and litigation work. His work involves progressing return of goods claims, breach of contract claims, breach of guarantee claims, breach of warranty claims and claims in conversion / the wrongful interference with goods. Jonathan has a particular specialism in obtaining 'interim delivery up orders' which are a form of injunction used to recover goods quickly. Additionally, Jonathan assists clients with the enforcement of money judgments in England and abroad.

  Kat is a Banking and Finance Senior Associate based in the Leeds office, with a range of debt finance experience including leveraged finance, acquisition and real estate finance, venture debt and general corporate lending. She acts for banks and private equity and debt funds as well as borrowers and sponsors on a variety of transactions. Recent transactions include: advising a bank client on their corporate lending to an established European PE house to support the MBO of a Hull-based timber processor and distributor; advising on the finance aspects of a major investment from a private equity investor to leading video game industry company; advising UK Real Estate Fund manager on its £600m partnership with a renowned proptech residential investment platform; advising large investment bank on EUR400m financing of acquisition of pan-European logistics portfolio; and assisting with advice to corporate entities on the effect of Covid-19, particularly in the context of access to the Covid Corporate Financing Facility (CCFF) supported by the Bank of England.

Kat is a Banking and Finance solicitor based in the Leeds office, with a range of debt finance experience including leveraged finance, acquisition and real estate finance, venture debt and general corporate lending. She acts for banks and private equity and debt funds as well as borrowers and sponsors on a variety of transactions. Recent transactions include: advising a bank client on their corporate lending to an established European PE house to support the MBO of a Hull-based timber processor and distributor; advising on the finance aspects of a major investment from a private equity investor to leading video game industry company; advising UK Real Estate Fund manager on its £600m partnership with a renowned proptech residential investment platform; advising large investment bank on EUR400m financing of acquisition of pan-European logistics portfolio; and assisting with advice to corporate entities on the effect of Covid-19, particularly in the context of access to the Covid Corporate Financing Facility (CCFF) supported by the Bank of England.

Partner

Lauren is a Principal Associate in the Commercial team at Shoosmiths. Lauren has experience working on a range of technology and commercial contract matters, both in the private sector and in the public sector. Lauren has excellent transaction and organisation skills as well as the technical ability to understand and report on the more complex aspects of commercial agreements, such as payment mechanisms and compensation on termination provisions. Lauren also has a specialism in information and privacy law and has advised a number of clients on compliance with the GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. Lauren regularly reviews commercial contracts from a data protection perspective and advises on privacy policies and compliance, as well as advising on other information law matters such as freedom of information. Recent experience includes: advising a leading global mobile telecommunications company in relation to a major technology transition programme; assisting with reviewing and agreeing a broad range of commercial and technology contracts as part of a wider corporate transition project; advising an investment company on the acquisition of a large portfolio of rooftop solar PV systems located In Northern Ireland, including assisting with project due diligence, drafting the operation and maintenance contract, and dealing with the assignment of various agreements; advising a mortgage software provider on a range of commercial and data protection matters concerning its proprietary mortgage application solutions, including drafting its standard terms of use, negotiating customer contracts, and advising on its website privacy and cookie policy; assisting the team with a project refinancing of an onshore wind farm in Scotland for a large finance house, including undertaking due diligence on the main project documentation and reporting to the client; providing data protection support to a large aviation services company across its UK and Ireland businesses, including advising on approach to contract negotiations and negotiating a complex data sharing and processing agreement in relation to occupational health services; secondment with the in-house legal team at a large supermarket chain, which included a broad range of commercial contracts in relation to apprenticeship training, pharmacy services, and staff benefit plans; advising a leading UK automotive services and breakdown company on a number of commercial and technology contracts, including a software licence agreement for vehicle recovery management software and a framework IT services agreement for a rostering resource system; advising a large UK retailer on a framework agreement relating to systems integration and other IT services; advising a large provider of home care services on a transitional services agreement as part of a business and assets sale; advising a careers and training provider in relation to the hosting and distribution of training content on an online platform operated by an Indian multinational company; advising a licensed energy supplier on a bespoke incubator energy supply agreement, under which new entrants into the energy supply market can set up and develop their businesses under the client’s supply licence; and advising a broadband and internet

Partner

Michael is a Senior Associate working in the Real Estate team in Leeds. Michael qualified in March 2020 having previously been a paralegal with Shoosmiths and completing his training contract with the firm and has a wide experience in varying aspects of property law with a particular focus on development, strategic land and real estate finance. His recent project experience includes advising on: investment sales of PBSA schemes in Birmingham and Salford; a range of leading UK Banks on development and acquisition funding of various high value sites nationally; a forward funding deal of a BTR development in Manchester; strategic options and onward sales of development land where the end use is a mix of residential and residential care; and a £35 million acquisition of land on the outskirts of Leeds for a residential development scheme

Associate (Hong Kong Qualified)

Natalie is a Principal Associate in our Corporate group based in Leeds. Natalie has significant experience on a wide range of corporate transactions including, private equity and venture capital transactions, private company mergers and acquisitions, corporate reorganisations, joint ventures and general corporate advisory. Natalie specialises in private equity transactions (acting for both institutions and management teams) across a variety of sectors. Recent experience includes: advising real estate fund, Moorfield Group, on its £125 million joint venture and investment with Allegra Care; advising LDC on its £221 million sale and subsequent co-investment with Francisco Partners in ByBox; acting for August Equity on its divestment of the Aspirations Group to Elysian Capital, by way of secondary buy-out; advising Moorfield Group on its £100 million joint venture with Stor-Age Property REIT, a real estate investment trust that operates self-storage sites in South Africa and the UK; advising Yorkshire Wildlife Group on its £38 million debt and equity raise from Lloyds Bank plc and BGF; and advising WM Morrison Supermarkets plc on the acquisition of three superstores from Co-operative Gro

Paul leads the Shoosmiths National Employment Team. Paul is known for investing time to understand his clients with a genuine focus on generating demonstrable improvements and savings in his clients' businesses. Paul provides solutions and advice on a range of employment matters including - mitigating equal pay issues, managing trade union relations, consulting on the implications of business acquisitions and disposals, designing restructuring solutions, defending all types of tribunal claims and advising on executive severance (for both companies and individuals). Paul has significant experience working with, and often embedded within, clients' Human Resources teams. Paul quickly understands the issues in hand, their impact on his clients' business, how they affect individual stakeholders and then works with his clients to deliver pragmatic, practical solutions. Paul has over 17 years’ experience as a specialist employment solicitor and is known for his innovative thinking and solutions focused approach. Paul’s experience includes:- Working collaboratively with a leading national supermarket to design and implement a store restructuring programme resulting in the reduction of over 20,000 roles. This included positive trade union engagement, detailed communication and consultation plans. Working as a dedicated part of the HR team of an international and national newspaper – working with the client to ensure smooth implementation of change programmes and senior exits. Working with a passenger transport client which was experiencing absence problems. Paul designed a bespoke training solution, which resulted in substantial absence reduction, saving the client over £1m. Designing and implementing a national manager training programme for a retailer – the focus was on improving manager communication, streamlining disciplinary and grievance processes and improving manager capability. Over 3,500 managers were trained and the results were a significant reward on investment – over 10,000 manager hours were saved and reinvested on the shop floor in the first 6 months alone, the number of appeals reduced by 87%, grievances reduced by 57% and Tribunal claims fell by over 50%. In addition, as the quality of manager decisions and the way in which they were communicated improved, employee engagement benefited. Successfully defending over 2,000 unlawful deduction and breach of contract claims brought on behalf of members by two trade unions. Working with a number of large business’ to protect their equal pay position and delivering gender pay reporting confidence. Paul is a TUPE expert and is currently engaged in a multi-party public/ private commissioning project on behalf of one of the UK’s largest private health care companies

Partner

Phil is a partner in the real estate team specialising in development work. He has a particular focus on retail, industrial, mixed use and roadside sector development transactions.  Key elements of his experience include: - acting for a number of regional developers focused on mixed use retail and roadside developments across the UK; - acting for a Yorkshire based developer in respect of a long term multi phase mixed use regeneration scheme in the heart of a major city centre; - acting for a high net worth family property fund on investment and industrial development opportunities across the region; - historically acting for Wm Morrison Supermarkets Plc and subsequently Lidl Great Britain Limited on their new store acquisition and development programmes;

Rebecca is a Legal Director in the Corporate team based in Leeds.  Rebecca has over 13 years' experience working on a broad range of Corporate law transactions including M&A, private equity (advising both investors and management), VC transactions, solvent corporate restructurings and reorganisations, pre-pack acquisitions and general corporate law advisory.  Rebecca's specialism lies in large-scale international deals and corporate reorganisations and she has been fortunate to have advised clients on the ground in jurisdictions including Italy, India, Latvia and the Middle East. Rebecca is well-known for her dedication to client service and is particularly adept at project-managing complex transactions with multiple stakeholders.  

Partner

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Samantha is a Senior Associate in the Commercial team at Shoosmiths. Samantha has experience of advising on IT and technology transactions across a range of sectors but has particular experience in acting for clients in (i) the retail and consumer; and (ii) the technology and telecoms sectors. Samantha has completed several client secondments, including to the in-house legal departments of three leading telecoms businesses (two direct and one wholesale) and a big six supermarket. These secondments have enabled Samantha to obtain a greater understanding of the key concerns and issues faced by the relevant businesses and the sectors they operate in. As a result, Samantha is able to take a commercial view and work seamlessly as an extension of a client’s in-house legal team. Samantha’s most recent experience includes: advising a global specialist provider of life insurance products on its partnership with a leading UK insurance aggregator, including the drafting and negotiation of a white-label website agreement and API development agreement; advising a leading UK sports retail company on a SaaS agreement for the provision and implementation of HR solutions; repapering a leading telecoms company’s wholesale agreements for the provision of mobile and fibre broadband services post-joint venture; advising a big six supermarket on the outsourcing of its cleaning services across their manufacturing, retail and logistics operations; advising the UK’s largest distributor of fuel and lubricants on its distribution arrangements; and advising a next-generation property search engine scale-up on a number of contracts for the provision of estate agency, lettings and other property services.

Simon is a real estate lawyer with wide experience of acting for investors and developers. His areas of expertise and recent project experience are as follows: • residential/student investment. Clients include Moorfield Group for whom he’s acted on a number of forward funded development schemes including developments at Newcastle, Manchester and Runnymede; • commercial investment. Clients include Evergreen/Extra (an M3 Capital Platform). • care homes/retirement living. Simon’s clients in this sector include Cinnamon Group for whom he has acted on numerous schemes throughout the UK; and • strategic Land. Simon acts on behalf of Highwood Group, one of the south coast’s fastest growing property companies, on various sites, bringing forward several thousand residential units in the last two years.

Simon is a Partner in the Corporate team based in Leeds. He has over 13 years' experience of corporate transactions, advising both public and private companies on mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, corporate reorganisation and simplification projects and general corporate advisory. Simon has significant experience of acting on cross-border transactions, having acted for a number of North American clients on such matters. He also specialises in insolvent debt portfolio acquisitions and disposals, having acted for a US investment bank in this sector for a number of years.  

Sophie is a Principal Associate in the Corporate team with significant experience in a broad range of corporate transactions including M&A, private equity, venture capital and corporate reorganisations. Sophie has a particular focus on private equity and venture capital transactions, regularly acting for both institutions and companies/management teams across a variety of sectors. Sophie’s recent experience includes: advising YFM Private Equity on the £4.8 million investment into award winning marketing automation platform, Force24 Limited, which was shortlisted for Deal of the Year (up to £5m) at the Insider Yorkshire Dealmakers Awards advising LDC on its exit from ByBox in a £221 million sale to private equity backer Francisco Partners and the subsequent £30 million re-investment by LDC advising management on the investment by LDC in BCIS (a carve out from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors), which was shortlisted for National / International Deal of the Year at the Insider Yorkshire Dealmakers Awards advising on BGF’s exit from Coppergreen Leisure Resorts, a luxury holiday park business, to Away Resorts, backed by CVC Capital Partners advising German private equity firm Capiton AG on the acquisition of Principle Healthcare Group, one of Europe’s leading manufacturers and distributors of vitamins, minerals and supplements advising a deep-tech startup on its £5 million venture capital financing round led by a San Francisco based VC firm and multiple subsequent follow-on funding rounds

Stephanie works in our Construction Team, based in Leeds, specialising in non-contentious construction matters. Stephanie has over 13 years of experience drafting and negotiating building contracts, professional appointments, warranties and security documents, acting for a variety of clients including developers, public bodies, contractors, consultants, tenants, PFI consortia and financial institutions. Stephanie's recent experience includes: Acting on behalf of Moorfield Group in connection with a circa £24m new build PBSA scheme with a total of 293 units involving debt funding; Acting for a funder of PBSA in key UK University cities advising on building safety aspects and overall security package; Acting for an institutional investor/developer client partnership in relation to single family housing; Advising a large land and property regeneration company on the construction documents for the various phases of its regeneration of a 350-acre site into a mixed-use development comprising circa 1,000 new homes, commercial and community uses. Acting for a logistics developer in relation to developments for logistics property solutions on several UK sites up to 136 acres, involving the construction of multiple warehouse / manufacturing units, utilities works and infrastructure works. Acting for a local authority on the development / regeneration of their town centre buildings to create educational facilities and commercial office space.

Steven is a Legal Director and has experience of dealing with a wide variety of real estate transactions, but with a particular emphasis on strategic land and acting for housebuilders. He has regularly advised on the drafting and negotiation of Option Agreements and Planning Promotion Agreements and the subsequent disposal of sites once planning permission has been obtained. He has also advised on the acquisition of a wide variety of residential development sites and disposals of land or completed dwellings to affordable housing providers. Recent highlights include:- 1. Acting for a national land promoter in the promotion and subsequent disposal of a site for development of 2,500 homes in Haverhill, Suffolk. 2. Acting for a national housebuilder on the construction of a £26M bypass to serve the development of a site in Peterborough for construction of over 1,200 new homes and dealing with subsequent disposals of affordable housing. 3. Acting for regional housebuilders on a variety of site acquisitions, including by way of Conditional Contracts, Option Agreements and Promotion Agreements.

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