Last year marked an upturn for the UK’s real estate market. The Lawyer Market Intelligence (LMI), a tool that identifies commercial relationships between top private practice firms and companies in the UK, shows that construction companies benefited from increased government investment in infrastructure last year while the acquisition of retail and commercial property continued to grow.

British Land Company

British Land Company, one of Europe’s largest publicly listed real estate companies, continued to dominate the real estate sector last year with the expansion of its retail and leisure portfolio in London.

In addition to its ongoing projects at Broadgate and Harmsworth Quays, the company acquired Surrey Quays Leisure Park in Canada Water for £135m as well as property at One Sheldon Square in London’s Paddington Central from Malaysia’s state pension fund for £210m.

The £733m property exchange transaction with Tesco was one of British Land Company’s biggest deals last year, in which King & Wood Mallesons took a leading role. The firm’s team led by real estate partner Patrick Williams has advised the company on a number of transactions. Meanwhile fellow real estate partner Bryan Pickup provides continued advice to the Crown Estate.

In December 2015 British Land unveiled its first formal panel a month after the appointment of former HSBC company secretary and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer partner Elaine Williams as general counsel. Although the review started before her arrival, Williams was involved in its latter stages and final decision. As part of the review the company added Addleshaw Goddard, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Herbert Smith Freehills, Jones Day, King & Wood Mallesons, Mayer Brown and Simmons & Simmons to its new roster.

Jones Day partner David Roberts led on a ­variety of previous deals for British Land last year, including a £1.5bn joint venture and acquisition with Norges Bank of Meadowhall Shopping Centre in Sheffield and the sale of a retail and office portfolio to Legal & General for £219m.

British Land panel firm Mayer Brown, which has been on the company’s roster since 2009 with client relationship partner and head of real estate Jeremy Clay, had an active year for other real estate clients as well.

Aside from advising British Land on the sale of a property portfolio to Singaporean property company Ho Bee Land for £144m in July 2015, the firm acted as external adviser to clients including AEW Group, Capital & Counties Properties (CapCo) and China Overseas Land and Investment.

Another standout deal for the firm in 2015 was advising Kennedy Wilson in its acquisition of a £503m UK property portfolio from Aviva.

Balfour Beatty

Last year proved to be very prolific for multinational infrastructure group Balfour Beatty, boosted by winning an £80m contract to construct the National Automotive Innovation Centre in Coventry for the University of Warwick and a £32m contract to build Baltic Triangle, a three-tower residential development in Liverpool city centre for Neptune Investments.

The company was also appointed as preferred bidder for the EDF Energy £460m Hinkley Point C power station electrical package in a joint venture with NG Bailey. Adding to its growing list of projects in 2015 the company was awarded a £416m contract to construct part of London’s new ‘super sewer’, the Thames Tideway Tunnel, in another joint venture with Morgan Sindall and BAM Nuttall.

Pinsent Masons has acted as the company’s principal legal adviser since 2013. The firm retained its position even after a new general counsel appointment at the company last year, which saw David Mercer promoted to the top job in July following his role as general counsel for the company’s construction and services businesses.

Alongside his external counsel, Mercer counts on a team of 22 in-house lawyers, led by deputy general counsel and head of group legal and compliance Keely Hibbitt and company secretary Chris Healey.

However last year Trowers & Hamlins gained a foothold with the company, providing additional advice since March 2015 led by real estate partner Andy Barnard. This allowed the firm to advise on the company’s joint venture with Places for People to build 1,500 homes at the Olympic Park.

Galliford Try

Rival construction firm Galliford Try won places on two major new frameworks for the Ministry of Defence’s Next Generation Estates Contracts programme at a value of £1.1bn over a four-year period.

In addition, the company’s partnerships business was appointed to North Yorkshire County Council’s extra care housing programme framework estimated at £650m.

In order to undertake these big projects Galliford Try general counsel and company secretary Kevin Corbett, who has headed up the in-house team of four since 2012, decided to launch a review of external advisers in November 2015.

The company’s final roster of advisers increased to 10, with Beale & Co, Burness Paull, CMS Cameron McKenna, Dentons and Pinsent ­Masons all winning places. LMI shows that Clyde & Co, DLA Piper and Nabarro all won work on previous projects.

Kier Group

Also particularly active was construction company Kier Group which secured lengthy and high-value building contracts including a £400m ten-year strategic property partnership with Staffordshire County Council and a £200m Northamptonshire highways extension contract.

Providing support to these projects is the company’s legal team of 13 lawyers headed by former Eversheds partner and general counsel Hugh Raven. Since Raven was appointed in 2010, the company reduced its roster from 40 firms to just a handful, including Trowers and Shoosmiths which where appointed to the company’s roster in 2013 alongside existing advisers Eversheds and Pinsent Masons.

Panel reviews

The real estate sector launched a number of panel reviews in 2015. In December UK homebuilder Taylor Wimpey undertook a review of its existing legal panel, adding Bond Dickinson to its panel of existing advisers DAC Beachcroft, Dentons, Eversheds, Gateley, Osborne Clarke and Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co.

In March Allen & Overy and Fieldfisher lost out on panel spots after National Grid undertook a panel review. The energy company added Norton Rose to its property and planning panel alongside existing advisers Berwin Leighton Paisner and Dentons.

According LMI, Land Securities Group is currently in the process of reviewing its panel. Eversheds, Freshfields, Hogan Lovells, Nabarro and Berwin Leighton Paisner will all be hoping to retain their places. Property developer Essential Living and construction company Interserve both have panel reviews planned for 2016 while Carillion and the Crown Estate both have reviews planned for 2017 and 2018 respectively.

External advisers

The real estate sector’s reliance on external advisers in 2015 was relatively high compared to most other sectors. Leading the way was investor Aberdeen Asset Management which had 15 external advisers while Galliford Try followed with 10.

According to information from LMI, the majority of active real estate companies including Bellway, CBRE, Kennedy Wilson, Kier Group, Land Securities Group, the British Land Company, Barratt Developments and Hammerson all had an average of three to four external advisers. Crest Nicholson used two advisers while Legal and General Property, St James’s Place and The Berkeley Group Holdings had one external adviser. As far as the type of firms that companies turn to, LMI indicates most companies seek real estate advice from the UKs largest law firms.

According to LMI, DLA Piper and Clifford Chance were the most popular firms for real estate corporate deals in 2015.

DLA Piper had the largest real estate roster in the sector acting as an external adviser to clients including Aberdeen Asset Management, St James’s Place, BP and Aviva. Real estate partner Richard Hopkinson-Woolley advised the Oxford Properties Group in its £270m joint venture with Union Investment Real Estate of Oxford’s Watermark Place in May 2015.

The firm also advised Knightsbridge Student Housing on the sale of its student accommodation portfolio for £500m to a Greystar Real Estate and Goldman Sachs joint venture. Stephen Blacksell acted as the firms lead partner during the transaction.

Clifford Chance acted as external legal adviser to clients including Hammerson and Shell. Since 2014 the firm has also acted as an external adviser on a number of transactions to SEGRO, a UK-based real estate investment trust company, with Adrian Levy, Jonathan Solomon and Andrew Carnegie acting as the lead real estate lawyers.

In 2015 the firm advised on a number of transactions including three led by real estate partner Cornelia Thaler for Union Investment Real Estate. In August the firm advised the company on one of the largest European portfolio sales of the year – the sale of its pan-European ‘Aqua’ portfolio to French management company Amundi Immobilier for €1bn (£774m).

The firm also advised IVG Institutional Funds on its acquisition of Frankfurt office building the Eurotower, lead by Frankfurt-based partner Christian Keilich in one of the biggest real estate transactions on the Frankfurt market in 2015.

In addition in March 2015 the firm, together with Nabarro, advised on the £1.1bn acquisition of UK student accommodation provider Liberty Living by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. The Clifford Chance team for this transaction comprised partners Adrian Levy, Imogen Clark, Catherine Cook and David Saleh.

Also popular for real estate advice was Norton Rose Fulbright which, led by Hong Kong-based partner Psyche Tai, advised Hong Kong-listed company China Overseas Land & Investment Limited on its acquisition of a property portfolio from its parent, China State Construction Engineering Corporation for $5.5bn (£3.8bn).

In January a team led by partner Daniel Wagerfield also advised Eco World Investment after the Malaysian property investment company entered into a joint venture with Ballymore to jointly develop three large-scale residential projects in London worth £2.2bn.

The firm has acted for real estate client Crest Nicholson since 2013, while British-based property business Helical Bar is a long-standing client. The firm also provides continuing advice to the Battersea Power Station Development Company in relation to the redevelopment of the iconic London landmark.

White & Case likewise had a prosperous year. In December the firm advised French real estate investment company Klépierre, on its acquisition of a Oslo City shopping centre from DNB group for an estimated €528m.

The firm further advised the company in its £266.7m acquisition of Plenilunio shopping centre in Madrid, with Paris-based partner Brice Engel advising Klépierre on both deals. In July Engel also advised CBRE Global Investors on the sale of a portfolio of ten shopping centres from joint venture China Investment Corporation and AEW Europe in a deal worth €1.3bn.

LMI indicates that joint ventures are becoming an increasingly popular method of investing in real estate. Among deals undertaken in 2015, joint ventures were commonplace, a reflection of strong sector relationships and partnerships. The opportunity to accelerate investment and share strengths and risk made joint ventures an attractive proposition for real estate companies.

As for the type of deals undertaken, LMI suggests that transactions involving retail and office property remained particularly prevalent, building on the continued growth from previous years. Specifically deals for shopping centres and retail parks were popular. A recovering economy led to an increased appetite for investment and formed an appreciation of the prime value of retail property. Savills was particularly active in this regard in addition to Hammerson, Helical, Land Securities and British Land, all of which were involved in transactions pertaining the acquisition and selling of retail property.

The deals

By Jonathon Manning

BLP and Eversheds lead the law firm pack when it comes to legal advice activity in the sector

Despite the financial crisis still severely affecting many economies around the world, the UK’s real estate economy is booming.

Last year the Government announced its intention to boost UK infrastructure development through a variety of schemes. This push included Chancellor George Osborne pledging £100bn to infrastructure projects over the next five years as well as the formation of the National Infrastructure Commission.

These incentives are set to promote the UK’s appeal to foreign investors and designed to help increase funding for major infrastructure development in the north of England. The improvement of road and rail networks will hopefully attract more businesses to the so-called ‘Northern Powerhouse’ and increase activity in the real estate industry in the region.

Many of these incentives were announced in the latter half of the year, meaning they are yet to fully affect the sector, but despite this the market is continuing to grow.

To highlight areas of the real estate market that are particularly active, 19 of the UK’s top 30 firms submitted to The Lawyer details of real estate deals they deemed significant throughout 2015. An analysis of these reveals a number of trends in the sector.

Eastern investment

Many of the Government’s initiatives seem to be tailored towards attracting overseas investment to the UK, particularly from China and the rest of East Asia. Despite fresh attempts to attract more interest from foreign companies, inward investment from Asia is in no way a new concept. In fact, 2015 was littered with deals involving Asian companies and their UK property assets.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer advised LRG Holdings on the disposal of 22 UK hotels to Apollo Management International. LRG is a joint venture (JV) between the Government Investment Corporation of Singapore, Realstar Hotels and Silverpeak Real Estate Partners. Freshfields counsel Victoria Hills advised on the £951m sale and had previously advised the JV on what was, at the time, the largest European hotel refinancing in 2014.

Although LRG’s deal highlights a move by an Asian company to offload some long-held European assets, there has been a great deal of inward investment from the East.

During last year’s state visit to the UK by China’s president Xi Jinping £30bn worth of deals are estimated to have been made between the two countries. Not the least of these was the £18bn deal struck between energy company EDF and the China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN) to finance and build Hinkley Point C nuclear power station. The Chinese state-owned company is set to provide £6bn of the total financing for the project.

Ashurst advised CGN throughout the deal using a team led by client partner Robert Ogilvy Watson. Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) advised longstanding client EDF on the deal, with co-head of nuclear Julia Pyke leading the team. Clifford Chance is also understood to be acting for EDF’s French state-owned parent company EDF SA.

HSF also helped Oxford Properties and an unnamed Far East sovereign wealth fund on a 50:50 JV to acquire London’s Blue Fin Building. The property was the UK headquarters for Time Inc and was sold to the joint venture for £415m. HSF head of real estate Don Rowlands advised on the deal and worked opposite Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) and Allen & Overy (A&O).

The Hinkley Point deal was the culmination of years of political talks and difficult negotiations but despite the large nature of the deal it was not the only one that involved a Chinese company investing in the UK.

Private investment company Shimao Property recently acquired the City property Christchurch Court from Deka Immobilien Investment. The £270m deal was the first investment by Shimao Property owner Hui Wing Mau in the UK market.

Simmons & Simmons partner Nick Jones advised Deka on the sale of Christchurch Court, while Baker & McKenzie acted for Shimao.

Bakers partners Stephen Turner and Justin Salkeld could be the biggest winners should Wing Mau increase his interest in the UK market.

Student housing

Submissions also underscored the high level of activity in the student housing market. Over the past five years student housing has developed into an independent section of the private rented sector, and attracted the attention of a number of large-scale investors looking to diversify their portfolios.

At the beginning of 2015 the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired student housing provider Liberty Living for £1.1bn. Osborne Clarke showed itself to be one of the firms leading the way in the sector after it advised Student Castle during its acquisition of a portfolio of five completed schemes from Liberty Living. Student Castle is a student accommodation developer and investor backed by Carphone Warehouse founder Sir Charles Dunstone and former chief executive Roger Taylor.

The portfolio included 2,153 beds across London, Manchester, Newcastle, Bristol and Cardiff. Osborne Clarke partner Nick Simpson advised on the deal, which was valued at £330m.

Eversheds is another firm cashing in on increased activity in the student housing market. In 2015 the firm carried out three transactions for Luxembourg-based investment firm LetterOne that saw the company acquire 10 student accommodation properties containing over 3,300 beds.

“Freshfields advised Singapore’s LRG Holdings on the disposal of 22  UK hotels”

The first transaction saw LetterOne acquire Pure Student Living from private equity company The Carlyle Group. The deal involved 2,170 rooms across five prime London sites in Bankside, City, Hammersmith, Highbury and Whitechapel. The deal was valued at £536m and BLP partners Chris De Pury and Celia Berg advised Pure Student Living during the sale.

The second transaction saw LetterOne acquire the 253-bed Paris Garden scheme in London from McLaren Property and Apache Capital Partners for £61m. Taylor Wessing partner Paul Leamy advised McLaren Property during the deal. His team included real estate partner Eamonn Cannon, planning partner Alistair Watson, corporate partner Russell Holden and real estate dispute partner Saleem Fazal.

The last of the three transactions highlights the continuing growth in the sector after LetterOne invested in four properties, three of which were still under constructions. The four properties, in Bath, Brighton, Edinburgh and York, were purchased from McLaren Property in a deal valued at £83m. Taylor Wessing again advised McLaren on the development and sale of the property.

Data provided by Eversheds only included details on its activities with LetterOne in the student housing market. But the firm has also carried out student housing work for Legal & General, and estimates the total value of this work over the past five years at £2bn.

Residential schemes

Of the 152 deals submitted 30 (19.7 per cent) involved residential properties. With the cost of housing increasing, the UK’s stock of residential property is a valuable and often politically important resource.

Many of the residential projects were part of mixed-use developments, often incorporating office space. Outside these developments there are a number of ongoing large-scale projects set to provide a great deal of housing to areas that most need it.

One of the largest residential projects is underway in the London Borough of Barnet – Brent Cross South. The £4bn project has already been granted planning permission and once completed will deliver 7,500 homes. The development will also create 20,000 jobs and be served by a new Thameslink station.

Hogan Lovells is advising the consortium of developers, which includes Argent, throughout the project. Real estate partner Nick Roberts is leading the team, which includes global head of real estate Jackie Newstead, real estate structuring partner Sian Owles, planning partner Mike Gallimore and public procurement partner Kate Rees.

Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co is also acting on the deal, providing advice to Barnet Council and Capita Real Estate. Partner Richard Beckingsale leads the Wragges team, which includes partners Sharon Ayres, Andrew Tomas and Lee Nuttall along with directors Sarah Punshon, Chris Nyland and associate Kate Cunningham.

Another of the year’s biggest residential deals saw BLP advise Quintain Estates on its £700m sale to Lone Star. The sale included Quintain’s Wembley Park project, which is set to provide 5,500 homes. The acquisition was carried out through Lone Star-owned vehicle Bailey Acquisitions. A&O advised Lone Star throughout.

The expansive redevelopment of London’s Elephant & Castle is another deal mentioned by a number of firms in their submissions. The £1.5bn venture is Australian property company Lendlease’s biggest UK project and will take around 20 years to complete.

The site will contain 300,000sq m of mixed-use development along with infrastructure improvements and additional community facilities. On top of this the project is set to deliver a number of housing estates, the largest covering 25 acres.

Linklaters is providing Lendlease with advice on how to structure the project through a multidisciplinary team. Linklaters UK real estate practice head Andy Bruce is leading the team, which includes litigation partner Katie Bradford and real estate associates Imogen Jones, Tristan Goodwin, Alexandra Clayton and Jack Shand. Mills & Reeve also advised the company on the residential aspects of the deal.

Office work

Despite Government attempts to increase the number of new homes in the UK, the number of deals involving residential property work in 2015 was still far below the number of those involving office and commercial projects. Of the 152 deals submitted, 53, or 34.9 per cent, involved office or commercial properties (excluding portfolios involving hotels or shopping centres).

BLP continued to advise Cathay Life Insurance on its activities in the real estate sector. Last year the firm acted for Cathay during the company’s £575m acquisition of the corporate structure that owns The Walbrook Building from Delancey and Ares Management’s Minerva.

The acquisition was one of the year’s biggest single-property sales in London and included 410,000sq ft of office space and 35,000sq ft of stores and restaurants. The property is opposite Cannon Street station and is home to Worldpay, Xchanging, JLL and Vanguard. Chris de Pury again led BLP’s team throughout the deal.

The firm also advised Cathay in 2014 when the company purchased the Woolgate Exchange building for £311m.

“The numbers will no doubt be seen as positive for BLP, after it announced its intention to become a global real estate giant”

Although not included in the firm’s own submission BLP’s name was mentioned in relation to one of 2015 most high-profile office deals, the Shell Centre. The sale of the two office buildings was the highest value real estate deal to ever take place on London’s South Bank.

The redevelopment of Shell Centre’s One and Two Southbank Place for £550m was achieved after a legal challenge delayed the buildings’ purchase by London-based property developer
Almacantar.

BLP and Hogan Lovells acted for a joint entity comprising Canary Wharf Group and Qatari Diar, known as Braeburn Estates, while Ashurst advised Almacantar on financial aspects.

Taylor Wessing advised Cain Hoy on the forward financing for the redevelopment. The firm’s team was led by real estate partner Keith Barnett and Raman Sharma alongside Jonathan Marks, construction partner Matthew Jones and planning and environment partner Alistair Watson.

The two offices are set to provide a combined 571,000sq ft of Grade A office space upon completion. One Southbank Place has already been pre-let to oil and gas giant Shell for 20 years. The remaining space has yet to be leased but will comprise a mixture of office and retail space.

Portfolio work

Last year also saw a great deal of activity through the sale of real estate-based portfolios.

Ireland’s National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) was particularly active and sold a number of portfolios throughout the year. These deals were often among the biggest to take place in the UK and Ireland real estate sector during the period.

One such deal saw property developer Hammerson and JV partner Allianz Real Estate acquire NAMA’s Project Jewel loan portfolio. The portfolio is valued at €1.85bn (£1.43bn) and is anchored by Ireland’s largest shopping centre, the 1.5 million sq ft Dundrum Town Centre.

HSF advised Hammerson on the deal with a team led by Don Rowlands along with corporate partner Alex Kay.

Real estate portfolios formed an important part of HSF’s business and the firm also advised Moorfield on sale of an investment portfolio to Lone Star for £1bn. Regional managing partner for the UK, US and EMEA Ian Cox worked on the deal.

Another major portfolio involved the sale of Northern Rock Mortgages’ legacy mortgage books. The asset portfolio was valued at £13bn and included mortgages that had been purchased by the UK company during the financial crisis.

Following a highly competitive bid process UK Asset Resolution Ltd sold the loan portfolio to affiliates of Cerberus Capital Management.

Slaughter and May advised UK Asset Resolution throughout the deal, while Cerberus was advised by Linklaters. Hogan Lovells also advised TSB, while A&O advised the financing banks.

The A&O team was led by head of securitisation Salim Nathoo and real estate partner Daniel McKimm.

Leading the way

The submissions provide an insight into how active each of the top 30 firms are in the market. Many included details about which law firms worked on the other side, which led to the same names appearing multiple times.

BLP stood out as the most active firm in the real estate sector and was cited as acting opposite its competitors in 15 of the deals in the sample. This was more than double the number of cases worked on by the next most-cited firm, Eversheds, which worked on the other side of seven real estate deals.

“Robert Ogilvy Watson led the Ashurst team advising China’s CGN on its £6bn investment in the Hinkley Point C power station project”

Ashurst, Clifford Chance, HSF and Nabarro were also shown to be active in the market after being mentioned six times each.

The numbers will no doubt be seen as positive for BLP, after the firm announced its intention to become a global real estate giant through a merger with US firm Greenberg Traurig.

Although the submissions are not as comprehensive as the data available on The Lawyer Market Intelligence, the information presented by the firms allows us to understand which deals were important to each firm.

It also highlights which firms are being noticed by their competitors and which partners are carrying out the work.

The QC perspective

Which planning lawyers are easiest to work with, which have the most experience, and who has a reputation for “working with the world’s greatest architects”? These barristers tell all

The vast amount of development work taking place across the UK means that planning lawyers are in high demand. The work they carry out is integral to a project getting off the ground and their work does not go unnoticed by those in the industry.

The Lawyer has spoken to a number of barristers to find out which planning lawyers are at the top of their wishlist for future projects.

4-5 Gray’s Inn Square

Timothy Straker QC deals with a number of high-profile planning cases such as the new cycle super-highway across London. Outside of his own work Straker admires the work of a number of lawyers both in private practice and in-house.

First to be mentioned by Straker is London Borough of Newham’s senior planning lawyer Amanda-Jayne Campbell, who is currently working on planning applications regarding the development of London City Airport. The work is being carried out alongside 4-5 Gray’s Inn Square barristers Simon Randle and Marc Samuels.

“Amanda-Jayne has a good background in planning law having previously worked in relation to HS2 and other big organisations,” says Straker. “Whether it’s a big case, like the London City Airport, or other matters, she’s readily able to turn her hand to it in a very clear, methodical way, which is really what you want.”

Straker adds that Campbell is able to structure complex legal projects well and create workable timetables for all involved. This allows the legal teams to understand what is needed in order to move from “step one, to step two, to step three”.

DLA Piper planning partner Howard Bassford is also well thought of by barristers at 4-5 Gray’s Inn Square. Bassford’s work on the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon gained him a spot in The Lawyer’s Hot 100 list for 2016. The lagoon is the first of six planned renewable energy projects to be granted approved planning permission.

“He’s very good at seeing where the difficulties lie and when certain matters have to be treated with exceptional caution,” says Straker.

“Being able to see where the difficulties lie is very important for clients. If a solicitor can identify at a relatively early stage what problems there will be one year down the line, then the client benefits from being told that in month one rather than in month 12.”

Another of Bassford’s strengths is his ability to organise large teams of lawyers during complex projects, a skill that was no doubt important to his work on the Tidal Lagoon.

Landmark Chambers

With its strong focus on planning, property and environmental law, the barristers at Landmark Chambers work with a number of the UK’s leading planning lawyers.

Russell Harris QC argues that Hogan Lovells partner Claire Dutch is working on what he
believes to be one of the most exciting planning cases going on in London at the moment, that of the Bishopsgate Goodsyard.

“I think it’s the biggest thing going on at the minute,” says Harris. “Rather than going to an inquiry, the Mayor of London Boris Johnson has called it in for his own determination and it’s really set all of the parameters for the major debates of our time.”

The planned development of the 11-acre site will include two skyscrapers set to be 47 and 43 storeys tall. The development site crosses the boundaries of Hackney and Tower Hamlets councils, but the right to approve the planning application has been taken out of both councils’ hands due to Mayor Johnson’s controversial decision to call the matter in for his own determination. The plans have also proved to be controversial with local residents and organisations.

“English Heritage say it’s an absolute travesty,” says Harris, “but the mayor is keen on ensuring that you get these global firms in there so that the benefits of that global wealth comes to London instead of going somewhere else.

“Claire and her team, along with senior associate Hannah Quarterman, have been responsible for that.”

Harris highlights Herbert Smith Freehills partner Patrick Robinson as another big name in the industry because of his work linking clients with high-profile architects.

“Robinson has forged a massive reputation for working with the world’s greatest architects,” says Harris. “When I stared doing this work, quite often a client would not want to pay for a big-name architect because they did not see that it brought any value.

“A selection of people changed that and Patrick Robinson was one of those people. What he’s done is ensured that people go to the brightest and biggest names because they’re the best.”

Landmark Chambers barrister Rupert Warren QC also highlights Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co planning partner Clare Fielding as another highly respected lawyer in the market.

Fielding has worked on a number of high profile projects and has advised the Malaysian consortium named the Battersea Power Station Development Company on the £8bn redevelopment of Battersea Power Station.

“Clare is particularly good at high court litigation and giving sensible advise about the prospects of whether to fold or fight a case,” says Warren. “She’s been involved in a long-running litigation, along with me, over the Shepherds Bush Market redevelopment in West London.

“It’s got a big crossover of compulsory purchase work and commercial property work. Although she’s a planning specialist she’s been very good at co-ordinating all of those elements and she’s the lead on all of it.”

Another planning lawyer who is well respected by Warren is Herbert Smith Freehills partner Matthew White.

His past work includes advising London & Continental Railways on the Stratford City and King’s Cross Central regeneration projects, which involved securing consent from Westfield Stratford City shopping centre. He has also advised BAA on the expansion and improvement of Heathrow Airport, which concerned the potential construction of a third runway.

“Matthew has a wide amount of business experience as well as in law,” says Warren. “He is much liked by large corporate clients because he understands their business, which is one of his great strengths.

“He’s been doing all manner of things to do with new nuclear, including working with Hinkley Point C all the way from the beginning. He is still involved with all of the various ramifications of that, including the electricity side. He’s highly
regarded.”

Francis Taylor Building

Francis Taylor Building (FTB) highlighted a number of lawyers with decades of experience in running large-scale projects. This experience is particularly important when managing large projects that can often have over 100 people involved.

One of the names on FTB’s list is Bircham Dyson Bell partner and head of government and infrastructure department Angus Walker. Walker has over 15 years’ experience both promoting and opposing major infrastructure projects across the transport, water and energy sectors.

Walker’s team at Bircham Dyson Bell has carried out a great deal of work for National Grid over the last few years including working on new overhead power lines across the country. The firm has recently won consent for the National Grid connection for the UK’s first new nuclear power station in 20 years, Hinkley Point C.

Ashurst and Herbert Smith Freehills advised on the successful £18bn deal to build the station in October. However, Bircham Dyson Bell’s work will see National Grid connect Hinkley Point to rest of the UK’s electricity network.

Pinsent Masons head of infrastructure planning and government affairs Robbie Owen was also named as one of the chamber’s most respected lawyers. He has over 25 years’ experience promoting major transport projects for the public and private sector.

Currently Owen has been working on a radical overhaul and upgrade of the A14 road. The road is a major arterial road across East Anglia, which has been in dire need of an upgrade and is in the process of being widened to provide better access for those in the region.

The work will bring the road up to modern standards but due to the nature of the project, the work involves the acquisition of vast amounts of land in order to be achievable.

Private practice

We asked partners from a variety of top UK firms to recommend other planning lawyers that they respect outside of their own firms. DWF, Hogan Lovells, Herbert Smith Freehills, Irwin Mitchell, Nabarro, Pinsent Masons and Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co refused to provide recommendations outside of their own ranks.

By contrast, Ashurst and Berwin Leighton Paisner, which boast high-level real estate practices, were sufficiently self-confident to share their thoughts with The Lawyer.

Ashurst head of global real estate Hugh Lumby

“One of the real estate planning partners I have particular respect for is Tim Smith at Berwin Leighton Paisner. Tim and I have worked together on Westfield London for many years – at least 15. Tim has provided planning advice to developer Chelsfield and then Westfield while I have dealt with the development aspects. The scheme has gone from a derelict site to a world-class shopping centre. When phase two is complete it will be the biggest shopping centre in Europe.

“Tim has excellent knowledge of planning law and a great grip on how the different planning aspects of the scheme fit together. He is a delight to work with, a perfect gentleman, collaborative, quick to respond and happy to explain complicated planning issues to confused development lawyers or prospective tenants. He provides commercial advice and clear answers to questions. He shows how different law firms can work well together without point scoring and for the client’s greater good. His progress into the judiciary is tremendous.

“His encyclopaedic knowledge of classic British comedy and ability to recite crucial sections at length alone sets him above most lawyers in my view.”

BLP planning and environment partner Tim Smith

“Hogan Lovells partner Mike Gallimore is enormously experienced and has a very effective and pleasant way of dealing with other lawyers and local authorities. He’s been involved in some ground-breaking schemes such as Ardent’s King’s Cross Court and recently acted for the consortium for the Shell Centre redevelopment. Those are merely two high-profile recent examples from a glittering career.

“Gallimore has an effective and pleasant way of dealing with other lawyers and local authorities”

“He has a very good strategic brain. He can do the detail, which many planning lawyers can, but what not every planning lawyer can do is take a step back, look at the wider picture and see how something can be delivered. He also does this in a very calm and collaborative way, which again is not something that is always found within major practitioners. As well as this he consistently wins and executes high-quality work.

“Anybody’s top three planning solicitors will usually include Mike. He’s somebody who certainly I, and the rest of the industry, respect enormously.”