Retail and Leisure
Well respected in the sector, we deal with space requirements, licensing, employment advice, corporate contracts and also provide advice on corporate restructuring and insolvencies.
At Morton Fraser Lawyers we have highlighted clarity as our guiding principle.
This directs the way we communicate, the way we advise, the way we conduct relationships with our clients and the way we are totally transparent and upfront about our charges. This applies to all our services from the straightforward to the more complex.
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Well respected in the sector, we deal with space requirements, licensing, employment advice, corporate contracts and also provide advice on corporate restructuring and insolvencies.
Elspeth is a partner in the Commercial Real Estate division in Edinburgh. She is also Chair of the firm's risk management team.
We have a strong reputation in this sector, built on representing occupiers, investors and insolvency practitioners. This wide experience makes us commercially astute and ensures we understand what’s really important to our clients.
As well as a full service offer we provide clients with a "go to" contact who manages their transactions and is up-to-speed with their portfolio and business needs. We cover all property in Scotland: in the main cities, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Inverness, and in other cities, towns and more rural communities.
We act for many major retailers, including several household names, as well as commercial landlords in managing their land and buildings in Scotland. We also have a lot of experience in the food and drink sector.
In recent years the Scottish commercial real estate market has seen many changes, no more so than in the retail and leisure sectors. Our clients expect us to understand their markets and to offer pragmatic, commercial advice and guidance. We’re also expected to deliver this within tight timeframes and within pre-agreed fee structures.
We’re specialists with genuine expert knowledge, here to offer valuable advice. Since 2005 we’ve grown to become one of Scotland's leading players, recognised by independent Legal directory Legal 500, who rank us in their top tier for commercial property retail occupiers in Scotland.
Our advice is clear and easy to follow. We offer transparent billing, agreeing a clear fee structure with our clients, so that they can be reassured that they’ll only pay what they have agreed to pay.
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We have an experienced team of lawyers, with a proven track record, who resolve disputes in the most practical, appropriate and cost effective way, always bearing in mind that each project is individual. We offer advice as soon as issues arise, including self-help. If required we can advise on all types of formal dispute resolution including adjudication, arbitration, expert determination, court proceedings and mediation. We can help either through the design period, the build or at conclusion. Whether claims relate to valuations and payment, extension of time, defective works, professional negligence or other issues which pop up, we have experience to assist all construction professionals. At each stage of an instruction we aim to scope the work to be undertaken and give fee estimates. We have fixed fee options available in respect of certain types of adjudication.
Morton Fraser's corporate team are regularly involved in deals in the commercial real estate sector. We have expertise in structuring domestic and offshore partnership and joint venture arrangements and establishing fund structures for the acquisition and ownership of real estate assets. We also have an expert team of insolvency lawyers who are regularly involved in commercial property deals, acting for both insolvency practitioners as well as acting for clients buying from insolvency.
We have a large team specialising in property development which spans across all the necessary areas of expertise including leasing, construction, planning, funding and procurement as well as property. We have acted and are currently acting on some of the biggest property development schemes in Scotland, including for example the mixed use scheme at Heartlands, just off the M8. We are experienced in all kind of development agreements including forward funding agreements, agreements for lease and joint venture agreements as well as all of the associated funding documents and requirements.
With more accredited employment law specialists than any other team in Scotland the Morton Fraser Employment Team is one of the leading employment teams in Scotland. Ranked in Band 2 in both Chambers and Legal 500, clients praise the Employment Team for being "proactive and pragmatic". The Team have also been described by Legal 500 as being "known for advising on high-profile, complex cases for private and public sector organisations."
We advise employers including those in the real estate sector on the full range of employment law issues including in respect of TUPE and employment tribunal representation. We carry out work on a fixed fee basis wherever possible.
Nick Atkins leads our highly experienced environmental team. The team regularly provide expert advice on property deals covering all aspects of environmental law, including pollution and contamination as well as noise. And occasionally Japanese knotweed. They understand all of the issues, and so can provide quick and easy to understand advice on the risks and likely implications. The team also deal with the drafting and negotiation of all appropriate environmental warranties and other contractual provisions. Our expertise includes extensive experience in all areas of environmental law, including nuclear and decommissioning where we have one of the most experienced teams in Scotland.
Our highly experienced team are regularly involved in forward funding deals, acting on behalf of both developers and forward funders. Recent experience includes acting on behalf of the forward funder of a major city centre office development, and also numerous student accommodation projects. Our team of experts cover all of the specialisms including property, banking and finance, construction and planning.
Morton Fraser are well known for our expertise in managing large portfolios of leased properties on behalf of commercial landlords. We also act for many tenants who regularly lease space in all kinds of locations including shopping centres, industrial estates, retail parks.
With more than a dozen core real estate partners and over 40 fee earners, ably supported by specialists in property litigation, planning, construction and environmental law, the Commercial Real Estate team at Morton Fraser is well resourced to tackle any diligence exercise. We have experience in everything from shopping centre acquisitions, large portfolio purchases, property input on corporate led transactions and supporting English correspondent firms in cross border deals.
We use our experience to focus on the issues that matter to our clients, cutting out the legalese and framing our analysis and offering solutions in the wider commercial context. Our clients have many competing pressures on their time - our due diligence team is there to cut to the heart of the issues and allow our clients to concentrate their energy where it's needed most.
Ranked Band 2 in both Chambers and the Legal 500, clients are full of praise for David Hossack, the partner that leads this team, describing him as "very efficient, fast and understanding of business needs".
We advise a number of major names with a licensing function. This includes obtaining licences, attendance at Licensing Board meetings, advising on policy matters and assisting clients with risk management arising from the operation of licensed premises.
We can carry out work on a fixed fee basis for each stage of an instruction.
Morton Fraser are well known for our expertise in managing large portfolios of properties on behalf of our commercial clients. Independent legal directory Legal 500 notes that "Morton Fraser's commercial property practice sets the benchmark for client care and quality of service. It handles all requirements for many of Scotland's biggest landowners." We have also acted in the management and realisation of distressed asset portfolios for various US funds.
Morton Fraser's planning team is headed by Douglas Milne ("Highly praised for his knowledge of planning law") and "highly regarded" Ken Carruthers. Douglas is a Legal Associate of the Royal Town Planning Institute. Ken retains full RTPI membership as a dual qualified solicitor and planner. The firm's planning team acts for an impressive range of public and private sector clients across the full spectrum of contentious and non-contentious planning business. Our expertise covers advising on all aspects of the planning process and related areas of practice including roads, compulsory purchase and compensation, the conduct of public inquiries and planning appeals, judicial review and other legal challenges.
We have represented clients in a number of highly significant developments including windfarms, major retail schemes, urban redevelopment projects, major housing releases, trunk and other road development schemes and conservation projects. Clients range from householders to some of the biggest institutional landowners in the UK. We aim where possible to give a realistic assessment of the costs involved in providing expert planning advice and in achieving the client's commercial objectives.
Ranked in both Legal 500 and Chambers, Morton Fraser's Commercial Real Estate team offers "big firm" experience delivered from the front by its real estate partners in a boutique, personalised style. We understand the markets that we operate in and are always trying to find ways to add value for our clients, whether by helping to make new connections or by our lawyers offering pragmatic, clear and commercially focussed advice.
We offer transparent billing, up front fixed fees wherever possible and clear, commercial advice from genuine experts in their field.
Morton Fraser has one of the largest dedicated finance practices in Scotland, and our team is heavily involved in the commercial real estate sector. We are one of the few firms who act for all of the UK's major clearing banks, and advise on deals worth billions of pounds a year. We act for banks and borrowers involved in all sectors of the commercial property market including property development, portfolio and investment acquisitions, student accommodation projects, social housing and PRS, retail and leisure. We have extensive experience in the sale and purchase of CRE loan portfolios. We always produce documentation in plain English that is robust yet easy to understand.
Morton Fraser boast a large and highly experienced real estate litigation team. Band 1 ranked, the team handle disputes at all stages of the property acquisition, development, investment and disposal processes. We regularly advise on disputed land ownership and title conditions, development agreements, procurement, all forms of commercial lease disputes including dilapidations, rent and service charge demands, compulsory purchase, valuation disputes and court actions involving design and construction team professionals. We handle cases in all Scottish courts, the Lands Tribunal and we are equally experienced in running arbitrations, mediations, and other forms of alternative dispute resolution.
Whether you are buying a high street shop through your SIPP; whether you are an institutional investor looking to sell a city centre office block; whether you are a commercial developer forward funding a hotel development, Morton Fraser's Commercial Real Estate team has the experience, market know-how and resources to help. Ranked in both Legal 500 and Chambers, the team is led from the front by more than a dozen core real estate partners, all of whom are genuine experts in their field.
We recognise that one size doesn’t fit all, and our team is packed full of specialists who can offer pragmatic solutions that are tailored to fit your needs. Our advice is clear and easy to follow and we offer transparent billing and fixed fees.
A top quality firm with a well deserved reputation for giving sound advice.
Unfailingly provides an excellent level of service.
Experience, attention to detail and good lawyers who are technically strong with commercial understanding.
Morton Fraser is a strong, solid, dependable firm that is large enough to manage the significant demands of our business but can also provide a high level of relationship-based service.
'Our business has worked with Morton Fraser for many years at a corporate level and they have handled our Scottish property work for 20 years. You get prompt, accurate and commercial advice and they are a pleasure to work with. They are keen to explore new ideas and find solutions. On the rare occasion that there has been an issue, it has been dealt with extremely professionally'.
'Commercial and professional'.
Morton Fraser is a strong, solid, dependable firm that is large enough to manage the significant demands of our business but can also provide a high level of relationship-based service."