Hill Dickinson continues to build property team

International law firm Hill Dickinson has strengthened its property team with two senior appointments.

Jim Garton joins Hill Dickinson’s London team from Gateleys, where he was head of real estate and head of real estate finance in London. Jim has a very broad base of expertise in commercial and residential real estate and has particular specialist knowledge of real estate finance and joint venture arrangements, mixed-use schemes and hotel development. Jim’s work has included advising West Ham United in connection with its bid to take over the Olympic Stadium in Stratford following the London Olympic Games in 2012.

Joining the firm’s Manchester office from Pinsent Masons is Jim Purves, a commercial property partner, who has extensive experience in logistics, industrial and retail property. Praised by The Legal 500 UK as having “great technical knowledge”  Jim has advised clients such as DHL, John Lewis, Lookers Plc and Balfour Beatty.

Speaking about the growth of the firm’s property team, Hill Dickinson’s head of business services, David Chinn said: “Both of these lawyers are extremely well-respected in their field and bring with them a wealth of property experience. With a total of 56 property lawyers across the firm, our size and capability have been instrumental in growing our client portfolio. Investment in this sector is leading to year on year growth of 16%.”

On joining Hill Dickinson, Jim Garton added: “I was attracted to Hill Dickinson on account of its strong property offering nationally and its client list which includes Lloyds TSB Group, RBS, HSBC, Santander, Metro Bank, Electricity North West, The Co-operative Group, Iceland, National Express Group and Peel Group to name but a few.”

Jim Purves, added: “I am looking forward to working with such an established team, capitalizing on the buoyant property market across Manchester and the north-west.

“The team has an excellent reputation with a remarkable client base, something which I look forward to expanding upon.”