Law firm appoints new head of retail and leisure
A Bristol law firm has appointed a commercial property lawyer to head up its retail and leisure team.
Amanda French has been appointed to the new role at Clarke Willmott just a year after joining the firm.
Amanda, who joined Clarke Willmott as a partner in its Bristol office last year, specialises in portfolio management and store development programmes for multi-national retail businesses and is also experienced in managing investment portfolios.
Before joining Clarke Willmott, she was a senior associate at Top 20 law firm Womble Bond Dickinson and an associate director at Davitt Jones Bould, one of the largest specialist real estate firms in the UK.
Amanda has served as head of property legal for two multinational retailers – River Island and Farrow & Ball – where she provided commercial strategic advice on global property portfolio issues and transactions, whilst reducing risk, providing business cost savings and managing internal and external legal teams.
She has also held commercial roles within business and has experience of sitting on a number of executive boards.
She 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.
