Shakespeare Martineau LLP

Primarily centred from Birmingham and London, the 'commercial and driven' team at Shakespeare Martineau LLP is 'very experienced in dealing with Sharia compliant structures' for borrowers and lenders seeking or providing the financing to facilitate commercial and residential real estate in the UK. Although it is starting to picking an increased flow of work for foreign entities, including funds, looking to invest in the UK, the team has over the years been particularly successful in developing strong ties with banks (both wholly Shariah compliant entities and conventional lenders with an Islamic window), ensuring that it secures a huge flow of work, particularly in the context of retail mortgages. Recognised as a 'a leading figure in the Islamic market sector', team head Mohammed Saqub has been pivotal to the firm's success in the area with his expertise recognised not only by clients on transactional work but also the UK government, which he has provided guidance to in terms of growing Islamic finance within the country. Legal director Afreen Cole has 'a solid understanding of Islamic finance principles', which she deploys to good effect on real estate finance matters and in the negotiation of Commodity Murabaha facility agreements.