North West law firm Butcher & Barlow has announced several key promotions and new appointments in its Gadbrook Park Commercial Property department to deal with increased demand.
Rachel Martin has been promoted to Partner and will also become acting Head of Commercial Property covering Zoë Paton-Crockett’s maternity leave. Property Litigation specialist, James Holton, who heads the Property Dispute Resolution team, has been made an Associate.
Butcher & Barlow has ten offices across the North West and is one of the region’s top Legal 500 firms.
Rachel Martin said: “We’ve remained busy throughout the pandemic, but the last six months have seen huge increase in the number of new instructions. People were holding their breath to see what happened but there is definitely a sense of determined optimism now – people are ready to get going again and take their plans off hold.”
James, who joined the firm in 2017 brought with him a large number of clients and has played a key role in growing the firm’s property dispute practice, in particular contributing towards the significant growth of the firm’s landlord and tenant practice. He was recognised as a ‘rising star’ in the 2021 Legal 500.
The firm has also made two new appointments with experienced Solicitors Julie Honychurch and Seema McWilliam joining to bolster the already well-established Commercial Property team.
Rachel added: “We are lucky to have a large and very experienced team of Commercial Property specialists here at the Gadbrook Park office. Eight of the twelve solicitors in this department are Partners and we are delighted to welcome Julie and Seema to the team. They bring a wealth of experience with them and will be a fantastic addition.”
Seema joins from Cheshire based Chafes Hague Lambert and Julie joins from a specialist privately owned property development and investment company and has over 35 years’ experience.
Julie said: “I am incredibly excited to be taking on this new role. Butcher & Barlow’s reputation goes before them, and I think my past experience will stand me in good stead.”
Butcher & Barlow has seen a large growth in demand in its commercial property division, with the market remaining buoyant despite the Covid situation.
Equity Partner Jonathan Aldersley said: “We pride ourselves on understanding our client’s needs and providing sound commercial advice. For that we need the right calibre of staff – and these internal promotions and new appointments do just that and are a further indication of Butcher & Barlow’s ambitions for growth and excellence.”