Zahir Nayani > Foot Anstey > Bristol, England > Lawyer Profile

Developers, financial service providers and energy and infrastructure companies make up some of Foot Anstey‘s core client base. Regarded as ‘knowledgeable, commercial and practical’, the firm handles mandates ranging from portfolio management to Shariah-compatible property transactions. Richard Sutton, who chairs the practice from the firm’s Exeter office, is well versed in property development matters. The Bristol-based Zahir Nayani is recommended for his expertise in Islamic finance. Philip Parrott, who joined the practice in July 2022, is a key contact for portfolio clients from the retail and energy sectors. Other names to note include Kate Dawe, whose commercial property expertise extends to leasing management.

The ‘strength in depth’ at Foot Anstey allows the firm to advise on a wide range on banking and finance transactions, with corporate lending, development finance and event-driven finance standing out as recent areas of focus for the team. Practice head Katie-Jane Rees’ expertise extends to leveraged cross-border transactions. Her Bristol colleague Zahir Nayani has specific expertise in Islamic finance. Toby Larkham is equipped to handle a range of real estate finance transactions, drawing on notable expertise in offshore financing structures.

With a deep bench of experts at partner and associate levels, spread primarily across its Bristol and Exeter offices, the ‘very knowledgeable’ team at Foot Anstey provides ‘pragmatic and commercially realistic’ advice to banks, investors and corporates seeking to utilise a variety of Islamic finance structures. Under the guidance of the vastly experienced Imam Qazi, the team’s sweet-spot lies in structuring Shariah compliant transactions in the real estate sector, with the firm regularly picking up work for the majority of Islamic banks active in the UK on both new money and refinancing mandates in the space. Drawing upon a wealth of experience in both private practice, as well as during a stint as General Counsel at a privately owned shariah-compliant investment advisory firm, the ‘commercial and approachable’ Zahir Nayani  is also pivotal to the firm’s success in the real estate sector, helping to grow and develop the firm’s lender-side client base, as well as regularly handling work for investors as borrowers. As well as conventional banking advice, the firm has also successfully made in-roads into the burgeoning Islamic fintech arena, with Exeter-based head of retail financial services Alan Hughes well-placed to advise both Islamic banks and Islamic fintech start-ups on the relevant commercial and regulatory implications pursuant to new and often innovative products. ‘Proactive and knowledgeable’ senior associate Kate Heard  is also gaining traction with clients as a result of her aptitude at structuring a wide range of Islamic financing arrangements pursuant to real estate-driven banking and finance transactions and multi-tranche development transactions. All named practitioners are based in Bristol unless otherwise indicated.