Acting for both landlords and tenants gives us perspective and enables us to understand the key concern and priorities of the other parties. We regularly represent clients in issues involving more than one jurisdiction.

Our clients range from investment managers with large and varied real estate portfolios to office occupiers and retailers, as well as charities and individuals with smaller portfolios. We work closely with institutional landlords, investment funds and housing providers in the UK living sector.

Our team is ranked by Chambers Guide to the UK Legal Profession and The Legal 500 and recommended for the quality of its work. We have a strong track record in both devising strategies to avoid disputes developing and in resolving those that do occur as cost effectively as possible. This includes a detailed knowledge of all forms of dispute resolution ranging from small scale mediations and adjudication to full blown arbitration and litigation, both in the UK and internationally.

We recognise that major disputes absorb significant resources in terms of both management time and costs. Accordingly and where appropriate to the business needs of clients, we use a variety of alternative dispute resolution techniques, such as expert determination, mediation and arbitration.

While we act for clients in all courts and tribunals, much of our work involves advice on ways to manage problems, for example how to handle lease breaks, so that they can be resolved without the need to issue proceedings. Our lawyers are members of the Property Litigation Association.

Our lawyers provide comprehensive advice on real estate tax matters including VAT, stamp duty land tax (SDLT), and capital allowances. Leveraging deep technical knowledge and practical experience, we devise transaction structures tailored specifically to mitigate tax liabilities and avoid common pitfalls. Clients appreciate our commercially driven, proactive approach that combines clarity, precision, and speed, even in the most intricate and high-value scenarios.

We regularly handle the tax elements of significant property transactions for a diverse client base, from major institutional investors and developers to registered providers of social housing and entrepreneurial ventures. Our team’s ability to swiftly address critical tax issues and integrate seamlessly into transaction processes allows our clients to meet tight deadlines without compromising on quality or compliance.

Our services extend to managing specialist areas including the Construction Industry Scheme, the Community Infrastructure Levy, the Annual Tax on Enveloped Dwellings , and business rates. We also assist non-resident landlords through registration processes, making sure UK property dealings are compliant and tax efficient.

Additionally, our specialists routinely engage with HM Revenue and Customs to secure tax clearances and rulings, facilitating smooth transactions and preventing unexpected delays. Our capability includes VAT registration and strategic options to tax, ensuring maximum flexibility and financial efficiency for your property operations.

When disputes arise, particularly involving VAT matters, our team liaises directly with HM Revenue and Customs, advocating effectively to achieve favourable outcomes for our clients. With our guidance, businesses can confidently navigate the evolving landscape of real estate taxation, securing optimal results.

For landlords, effective property portfolio management is crucial to protect the value of an asset. Our aim is to ensure that landlords’ interests are safeguarded in all letting documentation. We help asset managers to operate their portfolios efficiently, using our interactive technology to manage key dates and provide intuitive instructions.

Our team handles every stage of the lease process, from inputting into the negotiation of heads of terms to completing an institutionally acceptable suite of lease documents. We deal with both contentious and non-contentious 1954 renewals and advise on opposing a renewal request or a compromise renewal with a landlord development break. Our lawyers are also very used to dealing with telecommunication lettings and renewals, under the code or otherwise.

When it comes to disagreements, our real estate disputes team is well versed in advising on service charge disputes, while our construction team addresses building safety or contractor issues. For mixed-use portfolios, we ensure compliance with landlord and tenant legislation including whether statutory notices should be served for any residential elements.

For tenants, we represent a diverse range of occupiers, including banks, corporates, technology companies, life science businesses, medical practitioners, retailers, restaurateurs, and other leisure companies seeking business premises. Our professional network is extensive and we can make appropriate introductions and collaborate as needed during the documentation of any new letting.

When advising tenants, our goal is to meet operational deadlines, securing occupation, and ensure the fit-out process (including the wayleave process) aligns with the target trading date. Often, this includes documenting a managed exit from the current premises, ensuring a sufficient overlap but with the control of termination resting with the tenant.

Timeframes are of course sometimes missed for reasons outside the legal framework. Our team is adept at agreeing sensible, quick temporary measures to ensure business continuity and documenting the consequences of missed target dates and associated costs. Our project, development and construction team is experienced in documenting professional appointments, warranties and agreeing liquidated and ascertained damages as compensation for specific breaches to cover for all eventualities.

Our holistic approach addresses all aspects of property management and development, providing clients with the confidence that their projects will be completed on time and within budget, or with clear consequences if they are missed.

The practice supports an extensive domestic and international client base across all sectors and industries, ranging from retail, food and beverage and professional services through to education, charities and biotech, with a particular focus on fashion and luxury brands. It is a testament to the technical excellence and quality of our lawyers that many of our instructions originate from in-house or overseas legal counsel. Our cross-office team’s expertise is also recognised in leading legal directories such as The Legal 500, Chambers UK and World Trademark Review 1000.

Our reach and technical capabilities are further enhanced by the firm’s international footprint and its active participation in Multilaw, a top-ranked global network of independent law firms, enabling us to gain immediate access to specialist local advice and knowhow on behalf of our clients worldwide.

Members of our team, who work in a range of languages including French, Spanish, German, Romanian and Japanese, regularly write articles for leading publications such as CITMA Review; give talks and presentations on brand management and protection issues (including on Brexit at the World Intellectual Property Organisation); and participate in brands-focused international conferences and events such as INTA, AIPPI, PTMG, IBA, MARQUES and ECTA.

Our lawyers subscribe to and use the latest tools and technologies to ensure effective portfolio management and up-to-date advice. We have a particular expertise in complex, cross-border brand protection and enforcement matters and take pride in providing clients with tailored, commercial advice that matches their specific needs.
Following Brexit, in addition to providing UK advice, we continue to offer clients comprehensive EU brand management and protection services via the firm’s European offices.

Our lawyers are recognised as leaders in the education sector, with a reputation for devising intricate compliance solutions for education providers across their immigration needs. We have a long history in the field and have guided clients through many sector firsts. This includes advising the first university to have its sponsor licence suspended; the first university to have its sponsor licence revoked; the first new provider to gain degree awarding powers from inauguration in over 50 years; and the first Indian-origin business school that can award UK degrees to set up in the UK.

The work of our specialist team has included advising the Home Office on the development of sites and partnerships in the sponsor guidance in 2015, and assisting schools affected by the 2019 trafficking scandal on the immigration implications. We have also acted for a number of institutions that have been issued with UK Visa & Immigration action plans.

In response to sector needs, Penningtons Manches Cooper established our dedicated immigration audit, training and compliance team in 2022. However, we have been conducting compliance audits for education clients since the inception of the points-based system in 2008.

Today, our clients include higher and further educational establishments, study abroad providers, independent schools and English language schools. We also regularly provide immigration training for organisations such as UKCISA, ILPA, ISA and BSA, and run a dedicated compliance helpline for UKCISA members.

Our clients value our expert guidance, in-depth knowledge of student sponsor licence management and compliance, and proactive approach when dealing with the Home Office. We provide tailored support whether we are conducting an in-depth audit, creating customised training, advising on the immigration aspects of mergers, takeovers and joint ventures, or providing day-to-day compliance solutions.

Our lawyers’ have been conducting compliance audits since the points-based system was introduced in 2008. Today, our established team’s work includes advising both business and education clients on compliance with sponsor duties and preparation for UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) audits, including prevention of illegal working audits. Our approach is bespoke and we work with our clients’ in-house team to tailor our recommendations to their organisation.

We help clients to put in place effective systems and processes that comply with Home Office requirements and protect an organisation’s sponsor licence, thereby minimising reputational damage. Our team works with all sizes of businesses, from small start-ups to multinational corporations. In the education sector, we assist universities, overseas higher education institutions, further education colleges and independent schools.

We are actively involved in liaising with the Home Office on compliance issues, and have been commended by Home Office senior officials for our proactive approach to compliance. In addition, our lawyers provide training on all aspects of sponsor compliance obligations and right-to-work checks. This is sometimes part of a UKVI action plan or in response to representations on compliance concern raised by UKVI.

Our highly regarded industrial relations lawyers work with employers in a variety of sectors to manage their engagement with trade unions. At a national level, we advise employers of different sizes on a broad spectrum of industrial relations issues, ranging from the recognition of trade unions to collective agreements and bargaining, collective consultation, strike ballots, strike management and injunctions. We also offer authoritative guidance on the legal issues and strategic management of picketing, public demonstrations and social media campaigning.

We have extensive experience of advising trade unions on industrial relations and collective bargaining, including the detailed requirements for ballots for industrial action and applications for statutory and voluntary collective bargaining. Our specialist trade union solicitors provide unique insights to executive teams on how to negotiate and work with trade unions to best resolve the issues that are at play.

We advise across a range of sectors including education, shipping, energy, manufacturing, aviation, communication, transport and food production. Our client base extends from some of the most highly unionised sectors to those that traditionally have had little union engagement. We tailor our advice to suit the nature of the industrial relations framework for each employer.

Our expertise covers social and political industrial relations on a national and global level. We have a unique capability associated with the Trade Unions Congress and the International Labour Organization (ILO), which is a United Nations agency. Our industrial relations lawyers advise on ILO labour standards such as the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No 87) and the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No 98), including their use in government consultations, corporate codes of conduct, framework agreements with trade unions, and CSR/business and human rights initiatives.

Both as a team and individually, we engage in consultations on proposed changes to the law on industrial action, liaise with other stakeholders, and are frequent commentators and writers on industrial relations issues. Widely acknowledged for their specialist expertise, our industrial relations and trade union lawyers are recommended for their work in the latest editions of both Chambers UK and the Legal 500.

Setting out restrictive covenants in an employment contract can be a very effective way for businesses to safeguard confidential information. They can be used to deter an employee from competing unfairly against a former employer, soliciting the custom of an employer’s clients or prospective clients, poaching key staff, or dealing with customers and suppliers for reasonable periods of time.

All too often, however, businesses use template covenants that are not appropriate for their commercial needs, and which will not be upheld in court. Despite what is often heard, these covenants are enforceable; but only if properly drafted.

As Penningtons Manches Cooper acts for both senior executives and employers, we are well equipped to offer a broad perspective on this often highly contentious area of employment law. We assist businesses at the point of potential recruitment, assessing the enforceability of the proposed recruit’s current restrictions and/or drafting tailored covenants to meet legitimate business needs. We also provide strategic advice when an employee has removed confidential information or resigns, often with others, to join a competitor. We are frequently instructed to take rapid action to enforce restrictive covenants, as time is often of the essence.

Our solicitors work seamlessly with experts in other practice areas. In particular, we regularly draw on the specialist knowledge of members of our dispute resolution team, who have extensive experience in High Court procedures.

Since Brexit, businesses and other organisations that collect and use personal data in the UK need to comply with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), plus the Data Protection Act 2018.

The UK GDPR broadly mirrors the EU GDPR. and sets out what organisations must do when collecting, storing, and using personal data. It applies not only to organisations based in the UK but also organisations in other countries if they offer goods or services to individuals located in the UK or monitor UK residents’ behaviour. In addition, if such organisations do not have a business presence in the UK, they will need to appoint a representative here to deal with any queries relating to data breaches or subject access requests.

The EU GDPR continues to apply to UK (and other) organisations that have an establishment in the EU, offer goods or services to individuals located in the EU or monitor EU residents’ behaviour. Such organisations need to comply with both the UK GDPR and the EU GDPR. If they do not have a business presence in the EU, they will need to appoint a representative in the EU to deal with any queries from individuals there.

Like the EU GDPR, the requirements of the UK GDPR are far-reaching. There is an emphasis on transparency and security when processing personal data, as well as individuals’ rights and mandatory notification requirements for certain data breaches. The obligation to be accountable requires organisations to put in place comprehensive policies and practices, as well as having organised record keeping. Key obligations such as ‘the right to be forgotten’ and ‘privacy by design’ impact upon how businesses interact with their customers.

Non-compliance presents not only reputational but also financial risk. Breaches are punishable by very significant fines of up to £17.5 million or 4% of global annual turnover, whichever is higher.

Our data protection compliance service is delivered in two key phases and has been developed by us in response to demand from clients who need a fast and cost-effective solution to data protection compliance.

Everything valuable to an individual or organisation – including intellectual property, confidential information, personal data, hardware and software – may be at risk from cyber attacks, data breaches or fraud. Those who fail to protect their property or client data face even greater danger when they fall victim to an attack. Given the complex and evolving regulatory landscape in this area and the potential for significant fines, expert advice is vital in identifying the relevant requirements and understanding the steps needed to ensure compliance.

At Penningtons Manches Cooper, our lawyers are leaders in this field, and at the vanguard of cyber security and cyber crime prevention. We recognised cyber law as a distinct and emerging legal specialism at a time when its parameters were first being defined, and our practice consistently offers clients both technical excellence and a practical understanding of the key issues.

Close collaboration between our data protection and privacy, reputation management, commercial dispute resolution and white-collar investigations teams ensures our lawyers are able to apply their knowledge and experience across the vast spectrum of civil, criminal and regulatory law to this area.

As AI becomes increasingly integral to cyber security, it brings both opportunities and challenges. Our cyber security team is well-versed in navigating the complexities of AI integration, particularly concerning data sensitivity and regulatory compliance. We provide expert guidance on adhering to these fast-evolving regulations, as well as on their intersection with existing regulations around data protection. We can support our clients with risk assessments, ensuring transparency in AI operations, and developing robust data protection strategies to safeguard sensitive information.

Additionally, we defend and prosecute, representing individuals or organisations in relation to matters arising from a data breach or cyber attack, whether internal or external, and work seamlessly with in-house teams whenever necessary. Our lawyers also provide preventative advice and regularly implement cyber security policies and training.