Having trained and practised for many years in the City, Alexandra is highly experienced in all areas of commercial property. Her expertise includes acquisitions and disposals, landlord and tenant work and client portfolio management. Outside of the law, Alexandra enjoys a wide range of sport and recently cycled from Lands End to John O’Groats. Expertise: Commercial property transactions Acquisitions and disposals Landlord and tenant Portfolio management
Andrew is a partner in our Corporate Team. He is an accomplished M&A, capital markets and corporate specialist with a City background, having trained at Fox Williams and previously practised at BDB Pitmans. Andrew is highly experienced in capital markets transactions, acting for listed companies, nominated advisors and brokers in relation to IPOs, fundraisings and reverse takeovers. He also has vast experience in supporting private equity funds, as well as in advising both sellers and buyers on domestic and cross-border M&A transactions with deal values of up to £100 million. Andrew is extremely conversant with the start-up ecosystem, having spent a number of years advising start-ups, founders, university spinouts, universities and incubators. He works closely with a number of London-based universities and a variety of co-working spaces and incubators to provide legal help to their start-up companies. He also acts as a mentor to early-stage founders. In addition, Andrew handles general corporate and corporate governance matters. Outside of the Law, Andrew enjoys playing sports, including football, golf, rugby and cricket, and is an avid American football fan. He is also a former director of the Swansea City Supporters Trust (a shareholder of Swansea Football Club). Andrew is a very average guitarist but keen music fan, and likes cooking so much he almost became a chef. Expertise: Mergers and acquisitions Capital markets transactions Advising entrepreneurs, start-ups, university spin-outs, incubators and universities Private equity transactions Corporate governance
Anisha is a senior associate and an integral member of the Real Estate team. She is experienced dealing in a broad range of property transactions, focusing predominantly on real estate finance. Anisha acts for several private funders in relation to the funding of residential developments, and advises many of the department’s key clients in relation to regeneration and development projects, as well as on the property aspects of transactions. Expertise: Advising on landlord and tenant matters Advising on property aspects of real estate finance transactions Advising on acquisitions and disposals Advising on property aspects of corporate transactions Advising on commercial and residential developments
Chelsey is an Associate in the firm’s real estate department. She graduated from the University of Lancaster in 2016 and then interned at a Chambers in Hong Kong where she focused on construction contracts before she completed her LPC course at BBP in 2017. She went on to qualify into real estate in October 2019 and worked at Birketts LLP prior to joining Acuity. Chelsey has gained experience in a wide range of real estate transactions which includes landlord and tenant matters such as drafting and negotiating leases, licences and supplemental documents as well as investment sales and acquisitions of commercial, mixed-use and residential property (both leasehold and freehold). Chelsey also has a broad range of experience in real estate finance matters which include the acquisition and funding of development sites for developers and the acquisition and funding of park home and caravan sites, having acted on matters in excess of £300m as well acting on a number of portfolio transactions and refinancings which involved the preparation and negotiation of CLLS Certificates of Title. Expertise: Advising on landlord and tenant matters Advising on property aspects of real estate finance transactions Advising on acquisitions and disposals Advising on property aspects of corporate transactions Advising on commercial and residential developments
Senior Associate in BPE's Employment team, Chris assist clients from sole traders to PLCs with their employment matters. He advises on Employment Tribunal claims, complex disciplinary and grievance issues (including whistleblowing and discrimination) capability and sickness absence management, redundancies and restructures, TUPE consultation, corporate support and senior level exists including settlement agreements.
Daniel is an associate in our Corporate Healthcare team. He joined the Liverpool office of Goodman Grant (acquired by Acuity Law in 2022) in 2017, as part of our dental team. Daniel completed his Law degree and LPC at Northumbria University. Expertise: Mergers and Acquisitions of dental practices and within the wider healthcare sector Dental practice business structures (including partnerships, shareholders agreements, expense sharing arrangements and incorporations) 24 hour retirement for NHS pension drawdowns
An experienced and broad-based commercial property specialist, Darren has honed his expertise over two decades, first reaching equity partnership in the early 2000s. Today, Darren handles all types of commercial property matters, including acquisitions and disposals, commercial leases, and landlord and tenant work. His transactions are diverse, encompassing industrial estates, office buildings, shopping centres, and high street premises. His clients span individuals, partnerships, companies, pension operators, banks, and lending institutions. Darren has a wide-ranging commercial background, having worked variously as a business and regulatory compliance consultant, and as a legal adviser to asset managers. He also established a fintech business, and co-founded a joint venture with a software engineer aimed at leveraging AI large language models to enhance lawyers’ productivity and mitigate risk. Although the enterprise was unable to secure VC funding, the journey was exhilarating. Darren’s professional ethos revolves around adopting a pragmatic and business-minded approach to transactions. He maintains a judicious balance by selectively managing his workload to ensure an unwavering dedication to delivering a top-tier service quality for his clients. In his spare time, Darren practises Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and has three young children to keep him busy. Expertise: Commercial property Acquisitions and disposals Commercial landlord and tenant Industrial estates Office buildings Shopping centres High-street premises
Diego’s experience extends for over 20 years in Aviation, handling aircraft financing, purchase and sale transactions for airlines, lenders, high-net-worth individuals and operators. He also project manages aircraft and fleet acquisitions from contract negotiation to delivery. Diego qualified as a Spanish abogado in 2000 and as an English solicitor in 2009. He trained and spent five years at Iberia Airlines in Madrid as legal counsel, where he gained considerable experience with the airline in multijurisdictional work. Diego moved to London in December 2007, entering into private practice. Since then, he has advised clients on ownership and operating structures, negotiating and drafting loan, lease and purchase agreements, security documentation, and all ancillary documentation, including registration applications, legal opinions, and conditions precedent for delivery, insurance, and escrow arrangements. Diego also has extensive experience in regulatory, commercial dispute resolution, corporate law, and commercial agreements, including aircraft operating and maintenance contracts. Expertise: Aircraft acquisition and sale – project management from letter of intent to delivery Aircraft finance – operating and finance leases and secured debt finance ACMI, dry leasing and chartering Ownership and operating structures, impact on tax (including VAT and import taxes) Regulatory compliance; commercial air transport, Part-NCC and Operational Control Aircraft Registration; International Registry & Cape Town Convention advice Power by the Hour, maintenance agreements and service programmes Commercial dispute resolution Corporate compliance; General Terms and Conditions and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
Duncan trained and qualified into the real estate group at DLA Piper, where he specialised in all areas of property litigation. Duncan acts for owners, occupiers, developers, and funders of corporate real estate. His practice covers most aspects of contentious real estate, including rent reviews, development disputes, landlord and tenant disputes (including rent and service charge recovery, forfeiture and possession claims, and contested lease renewals), title, rights of way and rights of light disputes, mass protest evictions and property-related professional negligence claims and insolvency.
Edward leads our London Real Estate team and is a senior partner and shareholder. He is also a member of our Senior Leadership Team. After leaving DLA Piper, Edward established real estate and real estate finance boutique law firm Maple & Black in 2011. The firm grew to encompass corporate and commercial law before a successful merger with Acuity Law in 2017. A specialist in property finance, Edward has an impressive record of acting for several large and boutique financial institutions, as well as developers and investors across all forms of investment and development transactions. He has a longstanding and varied client portfolio spanning property investors, developers, asset management firms, lending institutions and restructuring practitioners. As a senior partner and shareholder at Acuity, Edward has focused on further developing the firm’s banking and finance client base with key specialist and alternative lenders. Notable clients include Zorin Finance, Ingenious Real Estate Finance and Global Growth Capital. Expertise: Acquisitions, disposals and developments Joint ventures and private equity funded transactions Real estate finance Real estate restructuring and distressed situations
Harriet is a Consultant Barrister in our Real Estate team. She has practised as a Barrister for over 20 years, beginning her career at the criminal Bar. She then moved in-house, representing a variety of clients in construction and engineering, energy and utilities on the full breadth of transactional and contentious matters. Harriet’s construction clients include employers and contractor organisations in the residential, commercial and infrastructure sectors, and she has acted for clients in several of Acuity’s high-profile construction matters. She acts for funders on the construction aspects of transactions and prepares construction documentation for developers. Harriet also has specialist knowledge of all forums of ADR, including mediation, adjudication, and arbitration. Expertise: All aspects of contentious and non-contentious construction work Advising funders on the construction aspects of transactions Preparing construction documentation for developers ADR, including mediation, adjudication, and arbitration
Henry is a senior associate in our Real Estate Finance team. He focuses on banking and real estate finance matters, advising both banks and specialist lenders on property finance and bespoke development deals. He also undertakes some borrower-side work. Prior to his arrival at Acuity, Henry spent time as an in-house legal advisor to a property development company. He is looking forward to leveraging the commercial awareness he gained in an entrepreneurial and agile in-house environment at Acuity. Henry studied History and Philosophy at York University prior to his legal training, and enjoys golf, cooking, road cycling and live music when he is not facilitating real estate transactions. Expertise: Banking & finance Borrow & lender work Property finance Real estate development transactions
Ifath has substantial experience as a commercial solicitor. Her area of expertise is in property, including acquisitions and disposal of commercial and residential property, landlord and tenant matters, real estate finance and commercial lending. She also has experience in purchases and sales of businesses. Ifath deals with a full range of dental-related acquisitions, with a specialism in property.
Jake is a Consultant Partner in our Employment team. He is an experienced employment specialist who handles a broad range of contentious and non-contentious matters on behalf of businesses and individuals. Jake represents both employees and employers in the full gamut of employment litigation cases, including complex discrimination and whistleblowing. He is also adept at advising on and negotiating senior executive exits. Jake’s non-contentious employment work includes the employment aspects of corporate transactions as well as day-to-day HR issues. He has substantial experience reviewing and drafting employment contracts, service agreements, restrictive covenants, employment policies, bonus and commission schemes, employment business and agency contracts, consultancy agreements and settlement agreements. Expertise: Acting for employees and employers in employment litigation claims Complex discrimination matters Whistleblowing matters Senior executive exits Employment aspects of corporate transactions HR issues Employment contracts Service agreements Restrictive covenants Employment policies Bonus and commission schemes Employment business and agency contracts Consultancy agreements Settlement agreements
Jim is an experienced specialist town and country planning lawyer whose practice also includes contentious matters, compulsory purchase, highway law, rights of way and the law of commons, and town and village greens. Jim also provides planning advice to lenders of development finance as part of the lenders’ necessary due diligence processes. His early career was spent as an engineering technician in local government and then as an infrastructure designer in the housebuilding industry, before reading for a law degree at UWE Bristol and subsequently training with Burges Salmon in Bristol. In June 2010, Jim was appointed to an in-house role as Head of Legal Services to M J Gleeson Group plc, a role he held until the end of 2014. Expertise: Town and Country Planning (with a bias towards contentious matters) Compulsory Purchase The law of Highways and Rights of Way The law of Commons and Town and Village Greens
James is a partner and highly skilled banking and finance specialist with broad experience of general asset and structured finance, and particular expertise in real estate finance across the UK and Europe. Having trained and worked at a large City firm, James has acted on a wide range of UK and large pan-European deals for borrowers and lenders. He has gained valuable insight from secondment opportunities at Barclays Capital, Credit Suisse and with Barclays’ structured property finance team, equipping him with a deep understanding of lender processes and requirements. James has a proven track record advising on a wide variety of development and investment transactions across all asset classes, including student accommodation, mixed-use developments, logistics, retail, care homes and hotels. He regularly advises borrowers, banks, institutional investors, debt funds and other alternative lenders on senior and mezzanine positions across a full range of sectors. Expertise: Structured property finance Development finance Cross-border property finance Senior and mezzanine finance
James is a corporate and commercial lawyer with 20 years’ experience in public and private mergers, acquisitions and disposals, joint ventures, private equity and corporate finance. James specialises in corporate finance work, acting for both companies and brokers, and advising on public company takeovers and mergers, private acquisitions and disposals, AIM and full listings, corporate restructuring, and general corporate matters. James acts for clients across a large variety of sectors, including media and entertainment, renewable energy, property investment funds, venture capital trusts, retail, industrial and financial services. After spending ten years at Freshfields, James moved into partnership roles at mid-City and West End firms before joining Newlawslegal, which merged with Acuity Law in 2018. He also worked for Simpson Thacher in New York. Expertise: Public and private mergers, acquisitions and disposals (domestic [UK and US] and cross-border) AIM listings and secondary fundraisings Joint ventures and shareholder arrangements Private equity and venture capital Corporate reorganisations, demergers and share buybacks General corporate, corporate finance, commercial, corporate governance
James is a Consultant Partner in Acuity’s Real Estate team. He specialises in all aspects of non-contentious commercial property matters. James acts for a wide variety of clients including landlords, tenants, HNW investors (both UK and offshore), developers, schools, national charities and finance providers on a wide range of property transactions. His experience includes freehold and leasehold acquisitions and disposals, leases, property management, development option and promotion agreements and secured lending for clients within the retail, investment, charity, sport and development sectors. He also provides support on property aspects of corporate mergers and acquisitions. James trained at Ashfords in Bristol and was a partner at Russell-Cooke in London. Expertise: Acquisitions and disposals Property development projects Portfolio management Charity property work Secured lending Corporate support
Jenny is a Partner in our Healthcare and Regulatory teams. Having qualified and practiced for over a decade at a market-leading boutique firm, Jenny is an expert in health and social care regulatory law. Her caseload includes any matters concerning the regulation of health and social care services. She represents care providers in responses, challenges and appeals to inspection reports and regulatory enforcement actions. Jenny is highly experienced in advising care providers in relation to safeguarding allegations, investigations and serious care reviews, as well as inquests, prosecutions, and commissioning fee disputes. She also supports care professionals in connection with professional disciplinary matters. In addition, Jenny advises vendors and purchasers of care services regarding regulatory due diligence. Her clients include care homes, domiciliary care services NHS hospitals, GP practices, adult social care services, children’s homes, private hospitals, dental practices and hair transplant clinics, alongside the professionals providing care within these settings. Jenny takes a team-based approach to advising her clients. She avoids jargon and legalese, instead providing personalised, practical and informed advice based on her many years of experience. She trains and educates professionals on regulatory and compliance matters, including preparing for CQC inspections. Outside of the professional realm, Jenny is passionate about team sports, especially women’s football. She is Chair of East London Ladies Football Club, a grassroots club that also coaches girls from age two upwards. Expertise: Challenges to inspection and regulatory outcomes Safeguarding matters First-Tier Tribunal (Care Standards) representation CQC prosecutions Regulatory due diligence during the sale or purchase of care services Professional disciplinary matters
Jim is an experienced specialist town and country planning lawyer whose practice also includes contentious matters, compulsory purchase, highway law, rights of way and the law of commons, and town and village greens. Jim also provides planning advice to lenders of development finance as part of the lenders’ necessary due diligence processes. His early career was spent as an engineering technician in local government and then as an infrastructure designer in the housebuilding industry, before reading for a law degree at UWE Bristol and subsequently training with Burges Salmon in Bristol. In June 2010, Jim was appointed to an in-house role as Head of Legal Services to M J Gleeson Group plc, a role he held until the end of 2014. Expertise: Town and Country Planning (with a bias towards contentious matters) Compulsory Purchase The law of Highways and Rights of Way The law of Commons and Town and Village Greens
John is a partner in our Corporate Healthcare team. He has built an enviable reputation over 30 years in the healthcare field, twice building up the country’s largest team of specialist dental lawyers. This included co-founding a specialist dental team at Goodman Grant, a Leeds- and Liverpool-based firm acquired by Acuity Law in 2022. Having created a business focus entirely on the full range of legal services needed by dentists today, John is an authority on every aspect of acquiring, running and selling dental practices. His longstanding role in the industry means he has seen it all and can advise from experience as well as legal expertise. He applies his comprehensive knowhow to all issues faced by dental practices and their leaders, across the length and breadth of the sector. John is on the BDA panel of recommended solicitors and enjoyed two tenures as Chairman of the Association of Specialist Providers to Dentists (ASPD). Expertise: Dental sales and purchases Advising on associate agreements
John is a highly experienced commercial lawyer and acts as General Counsel and trusted advisor to an enviable portfolio of founders and business leaders in the technology, creative and marketing industries. Having trained and qualified at a well-respected London firm, John has honed his expertise in advising clients ranging from large global companies to start-ups and business-owners. As a trusted advisor to his clients, John guides them through the entire life cycle from start-up to growth and exit. John is a UK legal advisor to SoDA, the global society of leading business in the digital and creative industries. Expertise: Commercial advice Mergers & Acquisitions Intellectual Property
Jonny is a real estate lawyer with a focus on transactional work and property finance, acting for property entrepreneurs, portfolio owners and funds. With 20 years of experience, Jonny has established himself as the go-to lawyer in Bristol for HMO landlords and property investors. Working in a non-traditional challenger law firm gives Jonny the flexibility to work at times and in ways that suit the client and transaction. Expertise: Property investment Property finance Pensions SIPP/SSAS Commercial landlord and tenant High-net-worth residential
Karen is an experienced lawyer specialising in all aspects of real estate. Before joining Acuity, she was a legal director at DLA Piper. She has acted for some of the UK’s biggest institutional landlords and tenants, undertaking all types of investment and management work. She has a particular specialism in distressed real estate. Expertise: Real estate Commercial property investment and asset management Distressed real estate Residential property development Landlord and tenant
Katherine is a partner in our Commercial Litigation team and an experienced commercial litigator specialising in high-value and complex dispute resolution matters. She acts for companies and high-net-worth individuals across a range of specialities, including contractual disputes, director and shareholder disputes, professional negligence, trust litigation and fraud. Katherine works across a wide range of industries, in both cross-jurisdictional litigation and high court litigation. She has expertise in dealing with offshore disputes such as trust litigation, having previously worked offshore. Her previous career highlights include a 100% win at Anthony Collins, before joining the “offshore magic circle’” firm Mourant Ozannes in 2018, where she dealt with a number of high-value, complex cases. Katherine has worked for a leading City of London firm, contributing to a number of multimillion-pound disputes involving fraud, worldwide freezing orders and asset-tracing for multinational commercial clients. She has been described by clients as “exceptional” and is tenacious and strategic in her approach to litigation. Expertise: Commercial contract disputes Financial disputes Director and shareholder disputes Professional negligence Defamation, privacy and reputation management All types of injunction proceedings Misrepresentation Trust litigation Inheritance tax dispute Breach of privacy rights Discrimination Unfair prejudice Undue influence Fraud disputes Worldwide freezing orders Asset tracing Cross-border litigation
Lizzie is a senior associate in our Real Estate team. She is an experienced commercial real estate lawyer with a broad range of experience across all real estate sectors, acting for developers, investors, funders and occupiers. She has a particular emphasis on work in the office sector. Expertise: Advising on acquisitions and disposals Advising on landlord and tenant matters Advising on commercial and residential developments Advising on property aspects of real estate finance transactions Advising on property aspects of corporate transactions
Martin is a Senior Associate in the team. Martin trained, qualified, and practised for ten years in the City of London, at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Stewarts. He advises on contentious, high-value and often cross-border commercial disputes for a broad range of clients from the financial services, telecommunications and energy sectors. He has advised both multinational companies and high-net-worth individuals. Martin possesses particular expertise in advising on negligence and misrepresentation claims (including for many high-profile individuals from the sports and media sectors), breach of contract, regulatory compliance and corporate governance issues. Expertise: Professional negligence Contract Judicial review Freedom of information He has also worked on significant public law challenges, including judicial review claims for both private and public sector clients.
Mike is an experienced commercial litigator specialising in shareholder disputes, as well as having expertise in construction, property, general contractual, and fraud disputes. He is also experienced in breaches of director’s duties, breaches of warranties, and professional negligence. Expertise: Director and shareholder disputes Commercial contract disputes Fraud Professional negligence Property disputes All types of injunction proceedings
Mike Taplin joined Acuity in July 2022 as a Consultant and brings with him a wealth of property development law experience with both commercial and residential expertise. Based in the Midlands, he is one of the leading property solicitors in the region.
Nigel is a consultant in our Corporate team. He has extensive experience in private and public company M&A and corporate finance transactions, with an emphasis on cross-border, financial services and technology-related matters. After training with Simmons & Simmons, Nigel moved to the firm’s Hong Kong office in the early 2000s, working in the Asian market until 2017. He teaches company law, corporate governance and finance at the University of Bristol and the University of Hong Kong. Expertise: Private and public company M&A Corporate finance transactions (with an emphasis on cross-border, financial services and technology-related transactions) Company law Corporate governance and finance
Ralph is a consultant in our Banking & Finance team. He has a wealth of expertise in financial services regulation, including consumer credit, regulated mortgage contracts, payment services, insurance intermediation and fintech products. He has advised a wide range of clients, from established retail banks and credit card lenders to SMEs and start-ups. Ralph was previously the Head of Legal at a private bank and Lead Counsel at a high street retail bank. He also has extensive experience advising senior executives on a range of risk and compliance matters at a separate bank and a major credit card issuer. Expertise: General financial services regulatory compliance (FCA Handbook) Regulated mortgage contracts (FCA MCOB sourcebook) Consumer credit (Consumer Credit Act) Payment services (PSD2) Insurance intermediation and administration activities (ICOBS)
Ray is a partner in our Corporate Healthcare team. Having co-founded a specialist dental team at Goodman Grant, a Leeds and Liverpool-based firm acquired by Acuity Law in 2022, Ray has spent his extensive and exemplary career providing legal advice to dentists. In this time, he has accumulated deep insight into their needs, and is strongly committed to supporting the commercial and professional objectives of running a dental practice. His professional knowledge and experience are reflected in the recognition he has received from the industry, as past Chairman of the National Association of Specialist Dental Accountants and Lawyers and as a member of the Association of Specialist Providers to Dentists.
Richard is a partner specialist in Risk and Regulation, with longstanding experience in environmental law defence work, which he has practiced for 20 years. Richard’s clients appreciate his tactical and pragmatic approach, augmented by time spent in industry and his environmental science background. Richard has a Master’s degree in Environmental Toxicology and, prior to qualifying as a lawyer, spent a number of years with the HSE as a specialist in environmental major hazard legislation in the Hazardous Installations Division, where he prosecuted his own cases. He also spent two years as a risk management consultant, most notably leading a World Bank project on environmental catastrophe prevention in West Africa, and developing environmental and health and safety protocols for energy companies in the Sahara. Richard advises and defends organisations in their dealings with the Environment Agency, HSE, Local Authorities and other government regulators. Expertise: Interpretation and advice on regulatory legislation (environment, health and safety, food, fire, security, planning, trading standards, bribery etc) Specific major hazard industry regulatory representation in UK (COMAH and abroad) Regulatory litigation – defending criminal cases brought by HSE/EA/EHOs, etc Directors, senior officer and shareholder risk/liability management from threats such as corporate manslaughter, bribery and environmental law Inquest representation for organisations and individuals Liability on internal and external security issues Contractor control and risk limitation Environmental, health and safety accident/incident investigation leadership Regulatory risk and liability management systems such as ISO 14001, 18001/45001, etc Mediation of commercial disputes
Robert is a Partner in Acuity’s Real Estate team. Having trained and worked at both large City and regional firms, he specialises in all aspects of non-contentious commercial property matters. Robert has significant experience with the acquisition and disposal of office, retail, and industrial properties, secured lending, development, and landlord and tenant and is exceptionally competent dealing with both the transactional and due diligence elements of such matters. Robert acts for a variety of clients, including national car dealerships, public bodies, landlords with large industrial estate portfolios, well-known high-street retail tenants across England and Wales, as well as pub and restaurant tenants in Central London. Expertise: Property development projects Acquisitions and disposals Portfolio management Landlord and tenant (acting for both landlords and tenants)
Soshana is an Associate in our Litigation and Dispute Resolution team. Her broad-ranging client base spans global corporations to high-net-worth individuals and start-ups, and she assists with contractual disputes, partnership disputes and commercial litigation. She joined Acuity following previous roles at Child & Child and Bolt Burdon. Prior to qualification, Soshana studied Law at Oxford Brookes University and completed her LPC at BPP University.
Stephen has been a qualified as a solicitor for over 35 years. He has been a partner in a variety of transactional property roles based in Bristol and Somerset with Clarke Willmott, Davies and Partners and Michelmores. Stephen’s passion and expertise are in advising landowners, developers and investors in residential-led and mixed-use schemes. He has worked with several of the top 10 PLC housebuilders, including on significant town extensions with multimillion-pound land assemblies. He has advised design-led SME housebuilding entrepreneurs to realise their projects, and has also acted for landowners, particularly those unfamiliar with the development process, to help them understand transactions with developers and investors, to add value leading to sales of development land. Expertise: Promotion of land, disposal, acquisition, preparation for development through the planning process and arranging the infrastructure and utilities agreements Site set-up preparations for disposal, as both serviced sites or individual plot sales Secured acquisition and development finance from UK and foreign banks and investors Advising SME housebuilders in securing finance from Homes England
Tessa is a corporate and business lawyer based in our London office. After qualifying at Rosenblatt, where she was a partner, head of the corporate team, and founder of the firm’s Japan Desk and renewable energy practice, Tessa left to set up her own practice, Newlawslegal. In 2018, Newlawslegal merged with Acuity Law, bringing Tessa’s more than twenty years’ of City legal experience, working on flotations, investments and mergers in London, the UK and internationally to the firm. At Acuity, Tessa provides hands-on commercial advice and guidance to a wide range of clients, from individuals to institutions. Her recent work has focused primarily on the marketing, media and renewable energy sectors, where she advises management teams on share sales and acquisitions, investment vehicles on their investments and individuals on their business structures. She particularly enjoys advising management teams in the media arena, be that content creation, TV production, advertising or public relations, on receiving external investment and ultimate exit. She has completed multiple deals within the sub-£20 million agency space and enjoys working for buyer or seller. This year, Tessa has led several successful and high-profile deals including the acquisition of Karian and Box by Ipsos. She has served on several AIM-listed company boards and was previously a member of the Quoted Companies Alliance. Expertise: Corporate deals and transactions – mergers, acquisitions and disposals Private equity funded transactions and PE backed buy and build strategies EIS and VCT structures and investments Management buyouts and buyins Shareholder arrangements Engineering and procurement contracts Operating and maintenance arrangements Bond structures
Zara is an experienced and commercially focused multi-lingual Senior Associate within Acuity’s Real Estate Team with over 10 years’ experience in Real Estate. Zara specialises in Real Estate Finance, Commercial Real Estate, and Residential Property. She has extensive experience dealing with financing and refinancing, large scale portfolio sales and acquisitions for all asset classes and in a broad range of industries. Her broad client base includes special purpose vehicles, food establishments, retail shops and warehouses, financial institutions, private investors and businesses and sui generis from the UK and overseas. Expertise: Real estate finance Acquisition finance Real estate development Lease negotiations on behalf of landlords and tenants Acquisitions and disposals of leases Lease renewals and licence work Lease variations and extensions Business sales and purchases Acquisitions and disposals of residential properties Unregistered land Acquisitions and disposals of development sites Acquisitions and disposals of off plan and new build properties including student accommodation Auction sales and purchases Shared ownership Transfer of equity Plot sales De-enveloping