PROPERTY OF THE YEAR
Sponsored by
LAW FIRM
WINNER:
This was the second of the two new awards during the evening. The judges were looking for “a law firm whose property team has enjoyed an exceptional year, either in terms of volume of work, quality of instructions, or both.”
And they had narrowed their search down to three contenders:
• BrookStreet des Roches • Pitmans • Shoosmiths
“Committed to the Thames Valley“, BrookStreet des Roches increased turnover by a quarter last year and added 220 new clients. Based at Milton Park, BSDR is the largest property firm in the region and has built long-term relationships with clients, ranging from MEPC and Vodafone to McDonald’s and Lafarge Tarmac.
Renowned for its work with top housebuilders, Pitmans 19-strong real estate practice acts for clients across the country and in 2014 was involved in numerous significant developments in London, the Midlands, Sussex, Kent and elsewhere. Pitmans' real estate team, one of the biggest and most respected in the south, has seen a big increase in ‘volume work’, notably with larger multi-unit residential schemes.
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SHOOSMITHS
The Thames Valley real estate team of Shoosmiths had its most successful year yet in 2014, advising on a number of flagship and HQ property deals across the Thames Valley. It acted for major clients such as Regus, Lloyds Bank, HP, McKay Securities, LG and Bang & Olufsen and worked on numerous transactions in the past year, including a complex acquisition of a London development.
Category sponsor Kevin Cook (pictured second right), regional partner of commercial property agent Vail Williams, announced the winner as the “highly-regarded and very active property team” at Shoosmiths.
Nominations had cited the firm’s “always technically excellent” legal opinion, but also the “genuinely collaborative way” in which the firm works with other professional advisers.
Having received the award, Alan Corcoran (pictured third right), partner at Shoosmiths’ national real estate team was very proud to have won: “This is tremendous. It’s a real pat on the back for our team that has won this award. It’s not one individual performance; it has definitely been a team effort.
“We operate on a national basis but the Thames Valley is such a vibrant community,
and an easy community in which to do business, although it is also very competitive with some excellent lawyers.”
Shoosmiths has recognised the UK powerhouse nature of the Thames Valley by enhancing its professional resources: “We have brought in some fantastic junior lawyers and promoted internally. We go from strength to strength, but like other law firms we are always looking for great talent, and that’s where the great challenge is going forward for all of us, trying to find and retain the best talent.”
Additionally, Corcoran was pleased to have achieved this specific award recognition in its inaugural year, and noted that Shoosmiths had also recently won law firm awards at the Thames Valley Deals Awards and on the south coast.
Paraphrasing golfer Gary Player’s work maxim, Corcoran added: “We are having a lucky year so far, and I think the harder we work the luckier we are.
“What we need to do now as a firm is build on our success and good reputation, but we are delighted that the economy has turned a corner and we now have a good few years ahead of us, which we aim to enjoy.”
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – JUNE 2015
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