Leading full-service law firm Shakespeare Martineau has significantly bolstered its Milton Keynes office, welcoming six new team members across multiple specialisms as part of its ambitious national growth strategy.
The latest additions include two senior appointments – Brian West and Susannah Lloyd, both joining as partners – alongside residential conveyancing associate Carrie Sutton, commercial property solicitor Edward Moffat, restructuring and insolvency solicitor Imran Ilias, and paralegal Sonia Williams-Gwaga.
These hires reflect the firm’s continued investment in its full-service offering across the South East and nationally, with a focus on high-growth areas such as real estate finance, residential development and corporate restructuring.
With more than 12 years’ experience advising national housebuilders, land promoters and later living providers, residential development expert Brian joins from Shoosmiths where he was partner and head of office. His practice spans the full lifecycle of land transactions and development, from strategic land acquisition to complex consortium arrangements.
Brian said: “Shakespeare Martineau has a clear ambition to become a market leader in housebuilding and strategic land, and that’s something I’m passionate about being part of. There’s a great culture and energy here and I’m excited to contribute to the next phase of growth. Residential development is as much about people as it is about land and I’m proud to be joining a team that gets that balance right.”
Real estate finance specialist Susannah most recently served as chief legal officer at London Wall Group, where she led all legal, corporate governance and HR functions. Her background includes senior roles at EMW, Ronaldsons, and Shoosmiths. At Shakespeare Martineau, she will focus on real estate finance, luxury assets and family offices.
Susannah said: “What attracted me to Shakespeare Martineau is the incredible team already in place. Having worked closely with many of my new colleagues previously, I knew this was a natural and collaborative fit. I’m excited to build a new real estate finance and family office team from the ground up, with a unique focus on servicing private and family offices.”
Carrie has returned to Shakespeare Martineau following three years at Shoosmiths’ conveyancing services firm, Swiitch. She brings more than 14 years of experience in residential transactions, including freehold and leasehold sales and purchases, shared ownership, re-mortgages, transfer of equity, and new builds, including Help to Buy equity loans.
Edward advises on a broad range of commercial and residential real estate matters, including development land acquisitions, investor asset management and property finance transactions. He also provides support on property elements of corporate transactions.
Imran joins the firm’s restructuring and insolvency team, bringing experience from both private practice and in-house roles. He advises on a variety of restructuring, recovery and insolvency issues, including contested insolvency work. He has advised clients from private individuals to FTSE 100 companies and is actively involved in the legal community, including as a national representative for the Junior Lawyers Division.
Sonia will support the expanding real estate team as the firm continues to increase capacity to meet client demand.
Jordan Glackin, head of Shakespeare Martineau’s Milton Keynes office, said: “This is an exciting time for our Milton Keynes team. The addition of this talented cohort of new colleagues marks a major step forward in our mission to offer truly full-service, expert-led support to clients in the region and beyond. These appointments enhance our capabilities in real estate, conveyancing, and restructuring – all key areas for our growth.”
