Clarke Willmott has appointed a new head of retail and leisure.
Commercial property lawyer Amanda French will head up the team, just a year after joining the law firm. Ms French joined as partner in Clarke Willmott's Bristol office in 2022.
Ms French specialises in portfolio management and store development programmes for multi-national retail businesses and is also experienced in managing investment portfolios. Prior to joining Clarke Willmott, she was a senior associate at Womble Bond Dickinson and an associate director at real estate firm. Davitt Jones Bould.
In addition, Ms French has served as head of property legal for multinational retailers River Island and Farrow & Ball. She has also held commercial roles within business and has experience of sitting on a number of executive boards.
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Ms French said: “Clarke Willmott is steeped in experience in the retail and leisure sector having acted for brands such as Lidl and Burger King for over 15 years.
“I am delighted and honoured to be given this opportunity to co-ordinate and promote such a fantastic team of specialists across the firm, which provides a wealth of expertise and knowledge to the retail and leisure market.
“It is a challenging time, but one of the reasons I am so passionate about the retail and leisure sector is that it is extremely resilient and is constantly evolving to meet rapidly changing consumer and regulatory demands.”
In the last 12 months Clarke Willmott has advised household brands including Fat Face, Turtle Bay, Lidl and Moto on a wide range of cases from property transactions to intellectual property. Its corporate team has advised on a number of corporate takeovers and refinancing of holiday parks and hotels with a combined value in excess of £40m.
The firm also advises retailers and leisure operators on HR and regulatory issues, supply agreements, intellectual property rights and strategies, and on all their real estate and construction requirements.
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