Commercial property: elsewhere in East Anglia

Birketts LLP

The Ipswich office of Birketts LLP is home to a substantial proportion of the firm-wide commercial real estate practice. Among its standout partners are Chris Schwer, who is a key adviser to housebuilders and developers, and major corporate occupiers, and practice co-head Oliver Crichton, who has notable expertise in freehold and leasehold acquisitions and disposals, as well as landlord and tenant matters. The 'friendly, attentive and knowledgeable' group also includes Stuart Raven and Paul Squire who are key advisers to corporate and developer clients; utilities specialist Vicki Chilton and Keith Andrews, who handles all property work for an active NHS Trust. Legal director Amanda Timcke and newly promoted partner Sam Froud are also key to the practice.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

'Mark Elgar has successfully undertaken many transactional lease negotiations on our behalf, helping us create the agile property portfolio to support our ever changing business needs. Mark's relaxed style and collaborative approach creates a real partnership empathy and goes a long way to resolving difficult and entrenched positions from opponent legal advisors.'
‘The Birketts team are always willing to go that extra mile to offer support. The fees are very competitive and leaders in the pension market when dealing with pension based transactions.’
‘Friendly, attentive and knowledgeable.’
‘Paul Squire and Alex Chisnall provide a proactive and commercially prudent advice.’
'Strong regional coverage with a good depth and breath of services.'
‘Birketts successfully combines the full service offering of a large practice with the personal and hands on approach of a much smaller business. There is consistency around repeat work, but in the event something unusual arises, there is always an expert within the business to assist. Whilst regional in nature, they can in my view give any London firm a run for their money.’
‘We have worked with Stuart Raven for many years, and intend to do so for many years to come. Stuart completely understands our business and ways of working, and is inevitably one step ahead of us at all times. His advice is prompt, efficient, well thought out, and excellent value for money.’
‘Keith Andrews is solid well rounded advisor who provides advice and guidance on all transactions. His is particularly knowledgeable around leases.'

Key clients

Hopkins Homes Ltd
The Churchmanor Estates Company Plc
M7 Real Estate Ltd
Dencora Group
The Electricity Network Company Limited, GTC Pipelines Limited, Open Fibre Networks Limited, Independent Water Networks Limited, Independent Pipelines Limited, Independent Power Networks Limited, Independent Heating Networks Limited.
East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices
Suffolk County Council
Ipswich Borough Council
Lloyds
HSBC
Fairview New Homes
Curtis Banks Group
Barnet Waddingham
Embark Group
XPS
Day Cooper Day
Deckers
Radley + Co
Denbury Homes

Work highlights

Acting for Denbury Homes Limited on its multi-million pound acquisition of land at Dunmow for residential development. Denbury are one of a number of the team’s housebuilder clients.
Dealingl with over 1200 transactions per year for Curtis Banks Group and others involving the purchase/disposal and asset management of properties owned in Self-Invested Personal Pensions (SIPPs) and Small Self-Administered Schemes (SSASs).
The clients - BUUK, GTC Infrastructure Limited, The Electricity Network Company Limited, GTC Pipelines Limited, Open Fibre Networks Limited, Open Water Networks Limited - own and operate over 1.6 million new gas electric water and fibre connections for leading housebuilders, developers, landowners and agents. A dedicated team of 15 works on property transactions in the utilities sector.

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