The group at Fieldfisher has a varied workload and is headed up by Paul Houston, who is well-regarded for his ‘excellent client service and industry-specific knowledge’. ’Exceptional commercial lawyer’ David Wilkinson is noteworthy for his expertise in handling significant M&A transactions for well-known hotel clients. Ramatu Banga has extensive experience handling a range of cases for clients across sectors, including hotels, restaurants, wine bars, tennis and padel tennis centres, and retail stores. David Bond is equipped to advise on franchise structures in both domestic and international contexts, while Kate Lias handles investment and occupational portfolio management matters.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘I have worked with Paul Houston who has excellent client service and industry-specific knowledge.’
'Exceptional response times to urgent matters. They have a good understanding of EOTs, which is becoming increasingly of interest to our client base.’
‘David Wilkinson is an exceptional commercial lawyer with extensive experience of the UK travel industry, which is what our firm specialises in. We have used him as a partner lead on a significant number of transactions in the last 12 months.'
Key clients
- Al-Seef Tourism Investment LLC
- Ambassador Cruise Line
- BlackRock
- Booking.com
- Capricornus
- Coffee-Bike International Limited
- CoCo Fresh Tea & Juice
- Creams Café Limited
- Cynergy Bank
- Dominus Group
- DWS
- EasyHotel
Work highlights
Acting for Dominus Group on numerous hotel and PBSA developments, including the development and forward funding of a large development site at the former Hammersmith Magistrates' Court in London for a Premier Inn Hotel and large student housing scheme.
Advised the client on a £33m refinancing of the acquisition of Fort Dunlop, a mixed-use asset in Birmingham owned by EPISO3, who were advised by pan-European real estate investment manager Tristan Capital Partners.
Advised the client on the £1bn redevelopment of the Whiteleys Shopping Centre in Bayswater, London.
Practice head
Paul Houston
Other key lawyers
David Wilkinson; David Bond; Ramatu Banga; Alex Campbell; Kate Lias; Vicky Reinhardt; Philip Watkins