commercial property
Real deal as Blake Morgan boosts Thames Valley property team
Andrew Farmery joined solicitors Blake Morgan in August to lead its Thames Valley real estate team. Here, he explains why he’s excited about the region’s vibrant commercial property market and the opportunities this presents for his firm
Blake Morgan is putting serious commitment and investment behind its Thames Valley real estate team. The firm now has 16 commercial property advisers based in Reading and Oxford, with a further six legal advisers in the construction practice, two in planning law, six in residential development and three in property litigation.
Partner Andrew Farmery relishes the challenge of building the Thames Valley real estate team. “I was looking to continue growing a customer base in the Thames Valley,” he said. “The timing of my move couldn’t have been better for the firm or me.”
Strong team
Farmery spent the first 10 years of his legal career in Birmingham before moving to Reading in 2005. He also spent a year working in London. He moved from Shoosmiths in Reading to Blake Morgan in August.
“My background and training has always been in real estate and I’ve always loved it. Reading is an exciting place to work – we’re in the heart of a buoyant property market and strong regional economy,” he said.
“While London’s legal sector is a massive pull for talent from across the UK, I’m seeing a growing number of lawyers looking for a better work/life balance who view the Thames Valley as a natural choice for furthering their careers,” he observed.
Farmery’s first objective on arriving at Blake Morgan was to entice two lawyers from in-house roles at major businesses. Senior associate George Panteli was senior counsel at Hewlett Packard Enterprise, responsible for the computer giant’s property portfolio across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Senior solicitor Sophie Boswell joined from national courier and logistics company, DX Group plc, where she was property legal counsel. The trio had previously worked together at Shoosmiths in Reading.
Farmery said: “George and Sophie brought HP and DX Group with them as new clients for the firm, so this was a significant advance for us. I think it’s fairly uncommon for lawyers to leave corporate in-house roles and return to private practice. The benefit for our clients is that the pair give the firm a deeper understanding of business requirements from the ‘other side of the fence’.”
A third new recruit, senior solicitor Jannicke Brar, joined the Reading office from Blandy & Blandy. In another significant coup, the Oxford office lured senior associate Dominic Jones from London ‘magic circle’ law firm Freshfields.
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businessmag.co.uk Client focus
Blake Morgan takes a hands-on approach with clients – Farmery says his team is always willing to roll up its collective sleeves to get jobs done. “As a group of real estate lawyers, we are at a point in our careers where we are young enough to be dynamic in the way we push on and grow the practice area, and senior enough to have the experience and clout to lead that change,” he said.
Blake Morgan’s Oxford office has an established client base, particularly in the education and charity sectors. As well as the university, the firm acts for the Red Cross and Oxfam, advising on their national property portfolios of retail outlets and depots. The Reading office focuses mainly on major corporate occupiers, owner-managed businesses and institutional investors.
“Our real estate team in Oxford is a major player in its local market,” said Farmery. “The two offices complement each other, with Reading concentrating on a different set of clients.”
Farmery hasn’t set a target for the size of the Reading team’s client portfolio or taking on more recruits. He said attaining revenue growth doesn’t mean adding new clients as fast as it can. “Our first priority is to make sure we have sufficient people in the team to continue delivering an excellent service to our clients. We will look for new client opportunities when they arise.”
National support network
Outside the Thames Valley, Blake Morgan has offices in Portsmouth, Southampton, London and Cardiff that the real estate team can call on to support its clients. “We are the number one law firm in Cardiff,
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2018
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