Firm hire: Browne Jacobson

Browne Jacobson has strengthened its Birmingham property team with the appointment of three specialist lawyers.

Partner Zo Hoida joins from the Birmingham office of Weightmans. With around 18 years’ of experience in real estate, Zo has extensive experience advising public and private clients on the full range of commercial property matters. Her specialist area is public sector regeneration projects which has included acting for Walsall Council on several projects including M6 Junction 10 and with Homes England, on ‘Phoenix 10’, acting also for clients such as Royal Borough of Greenwich, Leicester City Council and Hereford Council, setting up their Enterprise Zone. She also acts for Chinese investors and is Director of the England China Business Forum, a network which actively promotes stronger commercial ties between the UK and China.

Brian Hession joins the firm’s commercial property team as a partner from Shoosmiths, specialising in advising investors, developers and corporates on large scale commercial and mixed use property developments, investment, funding and leasing matters. He also has expertise on international real estate having spent time in Paris advising clients on property finance, acquisitions, disposals and on the property aspects of international corporate transactions.

Brian has acted for high profile regional, national and international corporates including Uber, IKEA, Mitchells & Butlers and Birmingham Airport. More recently he has advised global private equity firm Lone Star on a £1bn hotel portfolio acquisition, South African fund Atlantic Leaf on transactions totalling over £250m, Bridges Ventures on its acquisition of Middlemarch Business Park in Coventry and IWG (Regus) on the acquisition of Birmingham’s Crossway building.

Natalie Moustache qualified in 2016 and joins the property litigation team from Birmingham law firm Anthony Collins Solicitors. Natalie will specialises in advising landlords, tenants and managing agents on commercial landlord and tenant matters including business lease renewals and disputes, vacant possessions, boundary disputes and easements. She will also focus on advising the firm’s retail sector clients on a range of contentious matters.

Michael Stace, head of the firm’s Birmingham office, said: 'We are seeing record levels of development activity across both commercial and residential sectors and the arrivals of HSBC, the Paradise Circus development, staging the 2022 Commonwealth Games and the eventual arrival of HS2 means Birmingham is attracting unprecedented levels of interest and attention, both home and abroad.

'The real estate sector is a major growth area for the firm and we feel now is the right time for make further investments in Birmingham. Attracting high calibre and talented lawyers is a testament to our growing reputation, stellar client portfolio and the quality of work we are undertaking.'

Dominic Swift, head of Browne Jacobson’s 70-strong national property team, added: 'Zo, Brian and Natalie are joining us at an incredibly busy period. Both Brian and Zo have impressive track records in delivering high quality work on large commercial projects and their excellent credentials will further strengthen our team.'