ONE of the North West’s leading commercial property law specialists has announced the appointment of a new partner.

Tim Richards becomes the 10th Partner at Altrincham-based Land Law LLP, just two years after he joined from one of its competitors.

Founder and managing partner, Angus Whyte, has described how Tim had made “remarkable progress” since his arrival, helping win new business and becoming “a trusted advisor” to the firm’s existing clients.

Angus added that a “substantial’ six-figure investment in IT which put Land Law among the region’s most digitally advanced businesses had enabled it to cope with the challenges posed by the coronavirus lockdown.

“The coronavirus crisis has had considerable impacts for so many organisations and the individuals who work for them.

“However, we didn’t want the current situation to prevent us from formally recognising everything that Tim has achieved in his time with us so far.

“Despite the very rapid changes to working arrangements, our transfer of essential functions to a bespoke cloud structure last year meant that fee earners and support staff were able to operate almost as normal from home within 24 hours of the lockdown being announced.

“Given how such a traditionally document-heavy sector as commercial property has been affected by the global shut-down, that technological edge has allowed us both to overcome potential difficulties and develop further innovative solutions to help clients come to terms with new and radically different circumstances.

“The economic effects of the pandemic have been so far-reaching that it’s almost impossible to accurately predict what the sector will look like in a year from now, although a restructuring of client portfolios is likely as investors and developers come to terms with what exactly has happened to their stock.

“Nevertheless, I believe that we are in as good a position as possible with a strong team of experienced and capable lawyers and a very agile IT system which can adapt to whatever our clients and the circumstances require.”

Tim’s promotion caps a very busy two years since he joined Land Law from Addleshaw Goddard in April 2018.

A transactional lawyer, he works closely with investors and developers operating in the industrial, retail and office sectors.

In particular, Tim has contributed to a number of the notable recent and ongoing projects handled by Land Law.

He provided advice to the confectioner Swizzels Matlow on new warehouse premises at Middlewich in Cheshire and assisted the property investor Hollins Murray Group in its acquisition of a listed office building - Haw Bank House - in Cheadle from Bruntwood.