Leading lawyers Clarke Willmott LLP are expanding into South Wales with the opening of an office in Cardiff Bay.
The move sees some of the industry’s leading housing and planning specialists working in the city and builds on Clarke Willmott’s recent strong track record in South Wales. It is part of the law firm’s UK-wide growth plans and comes shortly after the firm announced a growth in turnover from £33m in 2012/13 to £40m in 2014/15.
The Cardiff team has a wealth of experience and expertise in affordable housing, house-building, planning and banking and finance, which are all seen as important long-term issues by the Welsh Assembly Government. Team members* include partners Anne Hayward, who heads Clarke Willmott’s national social housing team, Fraser MacRae, who has widely recognised expertise in finance and banking in Wales, Vicky Kells, a property partner specialising in secured lending and housing finance, Clare Gregory, a specialist in commercial property development and estate management, and Chris Charlton, who is a specialist in planning law.
Stephen Rosser, chief executive, said: “Geographical expansion is very much part of our new three year growth strategy and responds to an increasing demand for our specialist sector focused services.”
“We’re bringing some well-known industry figures to Cardiff, who will help us to build on the work we are already doing in South Wales. The new office is in an ideal location for us; it has a great sense of business community and is right at the heart of the successful Cardiff Waterside estate.”
The office, in Emperor House, Scott Harbour, Pierhead Street, will be spearheaded by partner Vicky Kells, who is a member of the firm’s fast growing social housing sector.
Vicky said: “We are really excited about opening our new offices in Cardiff, because this will help us to build on the progress and strong relationships we have developed in South Wales. There’s a great deal of investment and development activity happening in Cardiff, and we are committed to making a positive contribution to this success through our work in the area. We will focus on sectors and disciplines in which we specialise and have a national track record, and will offer a wide range of legal services to clients.”
Mark Sutton, partner at Knight Frank, who handled the deal jointly with Cooke and Arkwright, said: “Having Clarke Willmott as our latest tenant means this phase of Cardiff Waterside is now almost fully let which demonstrates current confidence in the office marketplace.”
*Notes to editors contains further details of the Cardiff team members.
