Meet BDB Pitmans at MIPIM 12-15 March 2024

Andrew is a former Managing Partner of the firm. He was elected in 2016 and led on the merger between Bircham Dyson Bell and Pitmans in 2018 which formed BDB Pitmans. He stepped down at the end of 2023 to focus on his real estate practice.

Andrew deals with a wide range of commercial property matters including acquisitions and disposals, investment, regeneration and development. He specialises in the real estate aspects of major infrastructure schemes, in particular those authorised under the Transport and Works Act Order (TWAO) and those by Development Consent Order (DCO) under the Planning Act 2008.

Andrew is Chair for the Culture Mile Partnership which is in the process of creating a new business improvement district (BID) for the Culture Mile area of the City of London. He was previously Chair of the Victoria Westminster BID.

Career highlights include:

• advising National Grid on the Hinkley Point C Connection 60km power line DCO. Lead the team involved in acquisition of rights from approximately 300 land owners;
• advising on the Nemo Link cross channel interconnector project and acquisition of rights to lay new cable; and
• advising TfL on the Victoria Station Upgrade and Emirates Air Line.

Emma’s specialism is in providing real estate advice to UK and off-shore clients, regularly acting for high net worth individuals, family offices, trust funds and investors. Her expertise covers all elements of real estate investment from acquisition, through to portfolio management, refinancing and disposal.

She also has a great deal of experience advising both landlords and corporate occupiers on complex leasehold structures, with clients ranging from established multinational healthcare providers, to tech start-ups.

Career highlights include:

• acting for a US-based international healthcare organisation in its acquisition of its London HQ leasehold premises with an annual rent of £1 million per annum over a 10 year term;
• responsible for the management of an investment portfolio exceeding 50 commercial units with a mix of office, creative space, retail and restaurants in North London, and managing the £50 million refinance of the portfolio; and
• acting as part of lead supermarket’s site acquisitions team and lead legal advisor on numerous schemes in the south east of England.

David has over 35 years’ of experience as a property solicitor. He has advised on commercial, residential and leisure property including insolvency and investment portfolio work.

In his current role as a consultant, he connects clients and other contacts on new projects.

Career highlights include:

• acting for J. Sainsbury plc on various projects regarding out of town shopping centres where they were the anchor tenant;
• acting for a number of clients on the acquisition, management, and sale of shopping and office complexes nationwide, as investment properties; and
• acting since 1994 for an established owner and operator of various industrial estates in the South East of England including landlord and tenant management.

Dennis is something of a hybrid lawyer, equally at home with both commercial and residential real estate. He specialises in real estate development and has particular expertise in prime central London real estate.

Dennis advises clients on all aspects of development, from site assembly to development funding, to eventual disposal. His wide range of clients include property companies, developers and high net worth individuals, as well as overseas clients based in the Middle and Far East. Clients particularly value his personal touch and deep understanding of their business needs.

Career highlights include:

• acting for an ultra-high net worth client on the £23 million acquisition of a multi-tenanted office building in west London and advising on the redevelopment of the building;
• representing a property fund on the acquisition and redevelopment of super-prime residential property in central London with a gross development value of over £50 million; and
• acting for a property company on the acquisition and redevelopment of a 21 acre site in north west England with a gross development value of over £75 million.