Nabarros gets sidelined by Eversheds on Broadmead

Eversheds has elbowed out Nabarro Nathanson to win a mandate to advise on letting and development work on the £500m Bristol Alliance development in Broadmead.

Nabarros has been advising the Bristol Alliance, a joint venture between Hammerson, Land Securities and Morley, on the initial joint venture, including tax and structuring issues, and has also advised on the planning aspects. However, Eversheds won the mandate to advise on the development and lettings.

Indeed, the Nabarros team may have a sense of déjà vu after suffering a similar fate on the Bullring development in Birmingham.

On that deal, Nabarros advised the Birmingham Alliance, a joint venture between Hammerson, Land Securities and Henderson Global Investors, on the initial structuring work, with Eversheds once again coming in to do the lettings.

Nabarros partner James Madden, who has been advising the Bristol Alliance scheme, said: “Eversheds did a very good job in Birmingham and I’m sure they’ll do a good job here, but we still continue to work on it too.”

Nabarros is still advising on some structuring matters, and will also advise on the compulsory purchase order (CPO) in June.

Eversheds’ win coincides with the Bristol Alliance’s appointment of Keith Stone, previously the retail leasing director of Lend Lease, to promote the marketing of the Broadmead development to potential retailers. Eversheds has already worked closely with Stone on the Bluewater shopping and leisure centre, one of Lend Lease’s flagship projects.

Eversheds partner Parmjit Singh, the partner who led on the Bullring deal, is leading the Bristol Alliance team.

The deal also represents a coup for Ashurst, which is advising Bristol City Council on the development. It is the first time Ashurst has advised the client, after winning a competitive tender around two and a half years ago to act on the council’s behalf.

Ashurst client relationship partner Tony Curnow is advising on the planning and CPO inquiry side, with fellow partner Richard Vernon acting on the pure real estate and development matters.