Posted on: October 2nd, 2025 by Ella Darnell
I am a Director in the Real Estate Finance team at Lawrence Stephens, having joined in 2025.
I am a commercially focused real estate finance solicitor with a strong background in both commercial and residential property. Known for exceptional communication skills and a pragmatic, common-sense approach, clients rely on me for specialist legal advice during fast-moving, high-value transactions.
Highly efficient and solutions-driven, I have experience acting for lenders (primarily banks), borrowers, and on dual-representation deals. I am skilled in development finance and have a strong working knowledge of planning permission.
I consistently deliver a high volume of legal matters and complex timelines without compromising on quality. As a trusted legal advisor, I thrive under pressure and lead high-performing teams. I act for a broad range of clients, including PLCs, overseas clients, companies, trusts, and individuals.
Posted on: October 2nd, 2025 by Ella Darnell
I am a Director in the Real Estate Finance team, having joined in 2025.
My practice focuses primarily on representing lenders in relation to their commercial, development, bridging and residential financing transactions.
I also have experience advising clients on all aspects of investment, acquisitions and disposals of commercial and residential real estate, real estate development, and corporate real estate support matters. I have particular experience in ‘co-living’, hotel and real estate/development finance deals for both lenders and borrowers. I have also advised on various cross-border acquisitions, joint ventures, corporate and finance matters, with significant experience in Central and Eastern Europe.
Experience highlights
- Advising one of the leading global co-living businesses on a broad range of matters, including real estate acquisitions, joint venture agreements, SPAs, development agreements and acquisition and development finance, in various jurisdictions including the UK, USA, Germany and Singapore
- Advised a London based property developer on £80m refinance of their residential portfolio
- Advised a Middle-Eastern investor in relation to refinance of their £450m luxury hotel portfolio in the UK
- Advising one of the leading multi-national real estate companies with business operations in Southeast Europe in relation to their hotel operations, including real estate acquisitions, development and financing
- Advised a Dutch lender on £10mil facility relating to agricultural development project in the UK
Posted on: September 29th, 2025 by Natasha Cox
I have over 20 years of experience specialising in corporate & commercial law.
I advise on mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, corporate restructuring and private equity across a broad range of business sectors and jurisdictions.
My practice includes the sale or disposal of Lloyd’s insurance market entities, advising in the blockchain and crypto-asset sector, drafting bespoke commercial documents for companies, shareholders and partnerships, and providing counsel on all aspects of employment law.
I hold an MBA, which provides a unique insight into the needs of a business. I am also a Solicitor-Advocate, having been called to the Bar (Lincoln’s Inn, 2003), enabling an understanding of contentious issues that clients find reassuring in commercial transactions.
Posted on: May 30th, 2025 by Natasha Cox
I have extensive experience advising lenders and borrowers on all aspects of real estate finance. My practice includes domestic and cross-border transactions, spanning senior, mezzanine and whole loans.
My investment expertise encompasses all asset classes, from office spaces, retail units, mixed use and leisure facilities, industrial and business parks, hotels and PBSA, including landmark buildings and large portfolios.
I excel in managing a wide range of development finance transactions, from large scale ‘ground up’ developments to small refurbishment projects. I also advise on planning assistance and development exit loans.
My client base includes financial institutions, senior lenders, mezzanine lenders, and bridging financiers.
I have a deep understanding of the industry and I am focused on delivering high quality pragmatic advice on transactions, irrespective of size or complexity.
Posted on: May 12th, 2025 by Natasha Cox
I joined Lawrence Stephens’ Resident Real Estate team in 2025. I specialise in all aspects of residential property work, including freehold and leasehold sales and purchases, remortgages, licences to alter and transfers of equity.
My main practice is in prime central London, acting for individuals, UK and international companies with a focus on high net worth transactions.
I have developed long standing relationships with many of my clients as their property interests evolve and become more extensive and complex. I enjoy working with other teams within the firm, such as Private Wealth, to ensure all my transactions proceed as smoothly as possible and clients receive the advice they need.
Experience highlights
- Completing a bridging loan refinance in two weeks over a £7million property.
- Notting Hill property sale exchanging in four days for a developer client.
- Refinance of a complex property portfolio in central London with a combined value of £20million.
Posted on: March 14th, 2025 by Natasha Cox
I head up the Lawrence Stephens Tax team. A versatile Chartered Tax Advisor, I pride myself on providing astute, clear-cut advice on property, corporate and employment taxes in particular.
Prior to qualifying as a lawyer, I spent 20 years as a professional engineer. My background in industry helps me bring a commercial understanding to the transactions with which I am involved. I am a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) and a Chartered Engineer.
I am editor of the land-related sections of ‘Monroe and Nock on the law of Stamp Duties‘. I am Chair of the CIOT Property Taxes Committee and a member of HMRC working groups in relation to Stamp Duty Land Tax and construction matters.
Experience
- Advising on tax aspects of a wide range of corporate sales and acquisitions
- Advising on, and structuring, incentive arrangements for key employees
- Advising on structuring for commercial and residential property acquisitions and property development
- Advising on, and negotiating settlements of, disputes with HMRC
Posted on: March 3rd, 2025 by Natasha Cox
I am a director in the Commercial Real Estate team, having joined Lawrence Stephens from Memery Crystal in January 2025. Prior to joining Memery Crystal, I spent 10 years at BCLP.
I have gained extensive commercial property experience across a wide range of areas including development, pre-lettings, acquisitions and disposals, international project management, joint ventures and landlord and tenant matters.
Throughout my career, I have acted for major international and domestic clients including developers, funds, corporate occupiers and supermarkets within the office, industrial and retail sectors.
Experience
- Acted for an international luxury hotel brand on the acquisition of its first UK hotel in Mayfair.
- Advised a multinational brewery, distillery and bar chain on a variety of Property transactions across its UK portfolio of bars.
- Acted for a major supermarket chain on the acquisition, disposal and management of shopping centres and supermarkets.
- Advised one of the UK’s largest housebuilders on various mixed-use developments.
Posted on: February 17th, 2025 by Natasha Cox
I am a Director in the Banking team with specialist experience having spent 12 years in the finance industry before deciding to retrain as a solicitor. I qualified in 2002 and have acted on matters across a mix of borrower and lender work. I joined Lawrence Stephens in February 2025, having spent three years at Memery Crystal.
I advise both borrowers and lenders on a range of transactions including general property finance, corporate acquisition work, hotel finance, trading business finance, development finance and asset finance, and have established long-term partnerships with several high-volume lending clients.
The experience I have gained from working for lenders gives me a unique insight into how they approach questions of risk and security. This insight brings an extra dimension to my advice on transactions to both lenders and borrowers and ensures that transactions progress smoothly from instruction through to completion.
I aim to understand and anticipate my clients’ requirements and to develop longstanding relationships with all of them. I always adopt a commercial and pragmatic approach giving sensible advice on often complex transactions.
Experience
- Acting for Octopus in a facility of £60million to finance the acquisition of a potential gigafactory site in Somerset called ‘This is Gravity’. A particularly exciting matter as the site has recently been acquired by Jaguar Land Rover/Tata and was featured on BBC News
- Acting for a lender in a £100million+ facility to finance a series of static caravan sites in the West Country and including the funding of an amusement park in Cornwall
- Acting for a borrower in the funding of two hotels in Liverpool and Manchester being funded by HSBC and Lloyds, total debt involved was circa £170million
- Confidential matter acting for a lender on a £26million funding of a large development site in Liverpool. The land in question was split into two parts with the first being used for the construction of a student hall of residence and the second for a boutique hotel
- Acting for a lender in the funding of a site with planning in Swindon involving an advance of £66million, this was the biggest transaction in respect of single asset security for the lender in question.
Posted on: January 31st, 2025 by Natasha Cox
I am a Director in the Commercial Real Estate team, having joined Lawrence Stephens from Memery Crystal in 2025.
I act for a wide variety of clients ranging from retail landlords and tenants, to institutional lenders and property developers. I have a particular experience in industrial properties acting for both buyers and sellers. I pride myself on my ability to understand a client’s motivations and priorities within a transaction.
Outside work, I am a a sports fan and play football, tennis and cricket. I also enjoy cooking and travelling (sometimes at the same time).
Experience
- Assisted on the purchase of a property in Liverpool for £68million.
- Led the refinancing of 9 properties in Central London with a loan amount of £15million.
- Part of a small team that acted on the purchase of a commercial site in Oxford for £13million.
- Acted on the sale of a Science Retail Park for £45million.
- Led on the purchase of numerous industrial properties ranging from £500,000 – £8million
- Acted on behalf of a well-known money exchange company on numerous leases throughout central London with rents ranging from £75,000 per annum to £1.2million per annum.
Posted on: January 31st, 2025 by Natasha Cox
I am a Director in the Commercial Real Estate team, where I specialise in the acquisition, disposal, development, regeneration, financing, and management of high-value assets in commercial real estate, John acts for clients ranging from international real estate funds and listed house builders to private investors.
I joined Lawrence Stephens in 2025, having spent four years at Memery Crystal and seven years at sister brand Rosenblatt.
Experience
- Acting for a listed house builder on numerous strategic land acquisitions and serviced land parcel sales.
- Acting for a UK real estate investment group with a motor-trade focus on the disposal of a portfolio of 16 car dealerships.
- Acting for a private overseas investor on the acquisition of a Mayfair property for a luxury mixed-use development.
- Advising a Fortune 500 payment technology company on the letting and fit-out of their UK headquarters.
- Acting on the pre-let, development and subsequent investment sales of numerous retail, industrial and office sites.
- Advising a corporate finance advisory on the office acquisition and fit-out of an office floor in the Shard.
- Acting on the acquisition of a portfolio of 40 mixed tenure petrol filling stations for a roadside retail operator.
- Acting for various impact investors on multi-million pound rolling programmes of portfolio acquisitions of residential multi let properties to be leased to charities who specialise in rehousing ex offender, ex-military personal, the homeless and other vulnerable groups to be sub-sold and held by a fund to ensure the continued and long term use of the properties for social housing purposes.
Posted on: January 31st, 2025 by Natasha Cox
I am a Director in the Commercial Real Estate team, having joined Lawrence Stephens from Memery Crystal in January 2025.
I have extensive experience in a range of commercial real estate matters including acquisitions and disposals and landlord and tenant matters, as well as advising on development projects and property finance transactions. I also have many years of experience assisting residential real estate clients, specialising in the London prime central market.
Experience
- Acted on the purchase of a mixed use, occupied (serviced offices and hostel) building in Kensington.
- Acted for a buyer on the purchase of a Grade II Listed building in Belgravia, a development site to be converted into luxury apartments.
- Acted for a tenant being granted a 10-year lease of three-level office space in a prestigious, newly renovated Mayfair building.
- Assisted a corporate client on the sale of a care home site in Walthamstow.
- Acted for a corporate client, advising on property matters, in respect of a castle purchase in Shropshire.
- Advises the owners of a London based organic produce store with multiple sites across London.
Posted on: January 31st, 2025 by Natasha Cox
I am a Director in the Commercial Real Estate team, specialising in general commercial real estate with a mixture of investment, development, finance, occupier, and management work.
I also have considerable experience dealing with distressed real estate on behalf of banks and insolvency practitioners.
Experience
- Acting on the acquisition of a portfolio of 15 mixed tenure petrol filling stations for a roadside retail operator.
- Acting on the acquisition and development of numerous new to industry petrol filling station sites for a roadside retail operator.
- Acting for various impact investors on multi-million pound rolling programmes of portfolio acquisitions of residential multi-let properties to be leased to charities who specialise in rehousing ex-offender, ex-military personnel, the homeless and other vulnerable groups to be sub-sold and held by a fund to ensure the continued and long term use of the properties for social housing purposes.
- Acting on the pre-let and forward sale of a Travelodge hotel.
- Acting on the pre-let, development and subsequent investment sales of numerous retail, industrial and office sites.
- Acting for a manufacturer on its land acquisition and subsequent development and financing of a bespoke distribution warehouse facility.
- Acting for liquidators on the disposal of a portfolio of over 140 freehold and leasehold pubs.
- Acting for administrators on the disposal of 5 mixed tenure business parks and associated management company structure.
- Acting for a hedge fund relocating to newly built office accommodation in the city and exiting them from their existing lease arrangements.
- Acting on numerous institutional office lettings for a leading developer and investor.
