Shakespeare Martineau LLP‘s real estate team acts for a variety of clients throughout the practice area, and the group works with landowners, promoters, and house builders on the acquisition and disposal of residential development land. Further, the team possesses considerable expertise working with commercial development clients in the office, retail, and leisure sectors. A large leadership team provides a wealth of experience to the team, consisting of managing director Victoria Tester, national head of residential development Neil Gosling, and Joanna Deffley, who acts as the head of the West Midlands offering.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • ‘The SHMA team provides a professional service and delivers to the agreed timescales. They are a friendly team.’

  • ‘The SHMA team are all excellent.' 

  • 'The commercial property team at Shakespeare Martineau offer an outstanding level of service. Response timescales are swift, whilst being well considered. The practice is solutions driven, unhindered by ego and gamesmanship.'

  • 'Clive Read demonstrates piercing intellect and has a superb can do attitude. His desire to remove complexity and 'cut to the chase' during contract negotiations is admirable, as is his willingness to proactively engage with opposing counterparts to 'get the deal done'. A genuinely nice guy to work with, no ego and comes highly recommended.'

  • 'Joanna Deffley demonstrates extensive knowledge of strategic land development and is a very capable performer in her field. A real willingness to make positive things happen for the client and very pragmatic. The client brief is understood quickly and matters are driven to completion as soon as possible. Highly recommended.'

Key clients

  • Airparks Services Limited (Holiday Extras)
  • Barratt Homes Anglia
  • Barratt Homes East Midlands
  • Barratt Homes Eastern Counties
  • Barratt Homes Mercia
  • Barratt Homes Northampton
  • Barratt Homes West Midlands
  • Burrington Estates
  • Catesby
  • David Wilson South Midlands
  • EMH Housing and Regeneration Limited
  • Gallagher Developments
  • Gladman Developments Limited
  • Hampton Oak
  • Hopkins Homes
  • IM Land
  • IM Property
  • Inox Capital Group Limited
  • Keon Homes Limited
  • Lioncourt

Work highlights

Advised BDW Trading Limited on its acquisition of land in Ely for a purchase price of over £30m.
Advised Spitfire Bespoke Homes Limited on its pre-planning acquisition of land for over £60m.
Advised One Heritage on the sale of a site which has a planning permission for a 55 storey tower with 542 apartments and a GDV of circa £164m.

Practice head

Victoria Tester; Neil Gosling; Joanna Deffley

Other key lawyers

Clive Read