The Messenger June 2016

Forthcoming Events
8 Movers & Shakers
Hill Dickinson advises on sale of
Cleanex Contract Services
The Manchester office of
law firm, Hill Dickinson
has advised on the sale of
Cleanex Contract Services
Limited to AM Services
Group Limited, a provider
of facilities management
services to a number of
blue chip clients situated
in the North West, North
East and Midlands via AM
Support Services and Pristine
Washrooms.
Hill Dickinson acted on behalf
of majority shareholders,
David and Rebekah
Gardner with a team led by
David Mkhitarian and assisted
by Sean Lightfoot
(Corporate), Tom Slinger
(Employment) and Rebecca
Layton (Banking). Andy
Feeke of CLB Coopers’ Manchester
office provided corporate
finance advice.
The Stoke-on-Trent- based,
industrial cleaning company,
was established in
1992 and specialises in large
scale commercial and industrial
cleaning servicing
many blue-chip clients nationally.
David Mkhitarian, from Hill
Dickinson said: “We are delighted
to have worked with
The Gardner family to advise
on the sale of Cleanex
Contract Service Limited.
The family has firmly established
the brand and has
developed an unrivalled operation
over the past 20
years which is recognised
on a national level.”
Andy Feeke of CLB Coopers
also commented: “Cleanex
is exactly the type of corporate
finance client we work
with at CLB Coopers; a business
that has been built by
an ambitious and hugely
David Mkhitarian
dedicated owner-manager
and one who is now looking
to exit the business and
pass it to new owners with
growth plans for the future.
It has been an absolute
pleasure to work with the
outgoing owners of Cleanex
and to build such a great
working relationship with
them."
Blackstone Solicitors set for further expansion
Blackstone Solicitors in
Hale have again announced
further expansion
to the range of
services that they offer as
two more lawyers’ join
this award-winning firm.
The firm is adding a specialist
department in both Wills
and Probate and also Corporate
Services. Judith
Chesters is an experienced
Private Client Lawyer specialising
in dealing with estate
planning and
administration, the preparation
of Wills and Powers of
Attorney and Court of Protection
matters. Robin
Fozard is an experienced
Corporate Solicitor and provides
corporate and commercial
advice to SMEs,
Limited Liability Partnerships
and Partnerships.
The range of services now
available at Blackstone includes
Commercial and
Property Litigation, Residential
Property, Commercial
Property, Family Law,
Wills and Probate and Corporate
services.
The firm is led by Emma
Nawaz who set up the firm
in 2010. The company are
expected to turn over £1.2
million pounds in the next
financial year.
Commenting on the continued
expansion of this dynamic
firm, Emma Nawaz
adds, “We are delighted to
welcome both Judith and
Robin to the team, undoubtedly
their specialist
areas will prove invaluable
to the Blackstone offering.
Blackstone prides themselves
on providing expert
service and are dedicated to
winning cases. Judith has
Robin Fozard
vast experience in dealing
with disputed estates and
claims and also handles residential
conveyancing. Corporate
services are often
perceived as a highly complex
area of law; Robin has
the knowledge and experience
to provide invaluable
guidance to our clients and
to ensure that transactions
run smoothly.”
DLA Piper Real Estate North - going
for growth
DLA Piper's North West
Real Estate team has
worked on an impressive
number of high profile
transactions in recent
months.
The practice is growing significantly
and has promoted
both Tom Kelsall and
Richard Thompson to partner
as of 1 May. There were
also four promotions to
legal director and six promotions
to senior associate.
This is in addition to the recent
recruitment of legal director
Paul Burney from
Addleshaw Goddard and
senior associate Hannah
Cheminais from Pinsent Masons.
The team, led by Mark
Beardwood, has advised on
a wide array of transactions
covering a number of sectors
and locations across the
region. Regular clients include
Universities Superannuation
Scheme, CBRE
Global Investors, Telereal
Trillium, Greater Manchester
Pension Fund and Downing
Developments.
In the growing field of build
to rent and PRS development
in Manchester, the
team is advising Capital &
Centric plc and Balfour
Beatty Investments on their
Northern Barristers’
Chambers, St John’s Buildings,
has today been instructed
on its one
millionth case. The Chambers,
which has grown to
be one of the largest in
the country, is thought to
be the first to reach this
landmark.
The case management system
used by St John’s Buildings
logged case number
1,000,000 when Paige Coppack
logged a new instruction
on for personal injury
and employment law specialist
Jamie Jenkins.
Sally Harrison QC, Head of
Chambers at St John’s Buildings
said “This monumental
achievement is a testament
recently announced developments
at Crusader Works
and New Cross respectively.
Within the real estate finance
sector, the team have
recently completed the provision
of new debt facilities
to an international investor
in connection with a portfolio
of West End trophy assets
worth over £800 million,
one of a number of real estate
finance deals completed
in the past 12
months with a combined
value in excess of £1.5 billion.
The North West team is also
retained to advise a variety
of occupiers in relation to
their real estate needs.
These include a global mandate
for Aecom which recently
involved the
completion of their new
100,000 square foot London
HQ at Aldgate Tower, and
acting for regional heavyweights
The Co-operative
Bank PLC on its own London
office move together with
advising online retailer
AO.com on the 386,000
square foot expansion of its
distribution platform at
Crewe.
As well as acting for institutions,
funders, private developers
and investors, the
team also continues to ad-
to the enormous skill,
knowledge and dedication
of the clerks and support
staff in Chambers. Their expertise
and specialist
knowledge is widely acclaimed
by our clients. The
members of Chambers provide
the highest levels of
professional service and are
recognised across the country
as leading practitioners
in their specialist areas of
practice.”
Chris Ronan, Chief Executive
of St John’s Buildings commented,
“It is a fantastic
achievement for St John’s
Buildings to receive our one
millionth instruction. We are
a chambers that has grown
on the basis of providing exceptional
advocates and
vise on significant infrastructure
and redevelopment
investment. These
include the major redevelopment
of Anfield for Liverpool
FC and, within the
public sector, the £200 million
Trafford Park Metrolink
Extension on behalf of TfGM
and the £270 million Northgate
Redevelopment in
Chester, all of which are ongoing
long term projects.
Mark Beardwood, Head of
DLA Piper's North West Real
Estate team commented:
"We are very pleased with
the high level of transactions
we've advised on recently.
The promotions we
have made recently are a
well-deserved reward for
the hard work put in over
the past couple of years by
the team, as well as a reflection
of our confidence in the
market and our increased
share of it going forward.
With a number of substantial
transactions being handled
and yet to complete,
the pipeline for the remainder
of 2016 is very strong
and sees the team continuing
to work on a unified
basis across the North West
whilst expanding our client
base across the sectors."
Milestone one millionth case reached
skilled support staff and we
value the quality of the service
we provide.
This achievement demonstrates
that our clients also
value those qualities and we
work hard every day to improve
what we do.”
The case records span 30
years and include cases received
by St John’s Buildings
in Manchester,
Sheffield, Liverpool and
Chester. In that time the
Chambers has been instructed
in some of the
country’s most high profile
cases in areas of law that
span the full range of legal
services.
Why join Manchester Law Society?
The Professionals’ Dinner Club
• Taking place at different restaurants in and around Manchester
the Professionals’ Dinner Club meets once every two months and
offers a three course meal with drinks at a great price
Left to right:Alison Barnett, Daniel Thomas, Emma Nawaz, Nick Jackson and Judith
Chesters
• An extremely popular series of events offers guests an
opportunity to informally network on a social platform with a
variety of professions