Charles Russell Speechlys Podcast Channel

Property Patter: Upcoming Trends in Real Estate

In this episode, Fiona Edmond, Construction Partner, Lee Medlock, Head of Real Estate and Robin Grove, Divisional Managing Partner for Construction, Real Estate and Disputes discuss upcoming trends in the UK Real Estate market.

They discuss what’s coming up for different asset classes such as logistics, life sciences, hotels, and investments in the living sector. They take a closer look at how commercial office investments and developments are changing and how can businesses future-proof their properties in terms of ESG. They also focus on how energy and the cost of energy affect businesses in the UK.

Client Conversations Podcast: Dame Stephanie Shirley CH

Managing Partner, Simon Ridpath, and Senior Partner, Bart Peerless, are joined by tech entrepreneur and philanthropist, Dame Stephanie Shirley CH. In this first episode, Dame Stephanie discusses her lessons from the world of business and her life as a philanthropist, having founded two significant autism charities: Prior's Court School for young people with complex autism and Autistica, the UK's national autism research charity.

About Dame Stephanie Shirley CH

Dame Stephanie is a businesswoman and philanthropist, having pioneered a career in the information technology sector. She started her own business in the early 1960s, Freelance Programmers, staffed by women working from home, which was ultimately valued at $3 billion, making millionaires of 70 of her team members. Given the status quo in the sixties, this all-female business was trailblazing and flourished over the following decades.

Since then, Dame Stephanie has established The Shirley Foundation, which is one of the top fifty grant-giving foundations in the UK. She has also founded two significant autism charities: Prior's Court School for young people with complex autism and Autistica, the UK's national autism research charity. She was appointed a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) in 2017, a membership limited to only 65 individuals globally, for her services to the IT industry and philanthropy.

During the podcast Simon and Bart ask Dame Stephanie thought provoking questions about her life and lessons that she wishes to share with listeners.

As well as talking about her journey in the world of technology and her successes, Dame Stephanie talks about her struggles with growing an international organisation.

"I started off in a very entrepreneurial way and have tried to remain innovative as an organisation so that some of the things I have done have been shock horror types of things, trying to take the whole company, which is quite sizable and profitable, into co-ownership, that took 11 years, and what I have learnt that most of the things that you do in business take that sort of time. My first charity took 17 years to set up. These things are slow and take a lot out of you."

Bart comments: "You are the most significant private donor in the field of autism in the country, possibly in the world." He touches on how Dame Stephanie's changing relationship with her business led to moving towards into the world of philanthropy and how one moves into making a difference in the world.

Dame Stephanie replies: "I don't like to be bored, I like to do new things, I like to make things happen, so it's worked out quite well for me. Some of the projects that you have helped me with, such as house purchasing and house selling, which is the normal domestic thing, but also, I started to buy houses on behalf of Charities, including one that I bought for £15 million. These are significant changes of scale as far as I am concerned - as well as growing another business with the school I set up, which is the largest charitable project I did, for £30 million, which took five years."

Simon asks Dame Stephanie how she stays with her projects and what role she takes in these causes: "The key thing that I do is set the culture, so it’s pretty firm. Even when I've left, I am told that the trustees think, and say "What would Steve do in this situation? And although it's a nice to hear, it's not always a good thing, as things then won't change."  

If you would like a personally signed copy of either So To Speak or Let It Go. Please email pa@steveshirley.com – all proceeds go to Autistica.

Property Patter: What can the property world expect from Parliament and the courts in 2023?

Emma Humphreys and Laura Bushaway are joined by Guy Fetherstonhaugh KC and Taylor Briggs of Falcon Chambers to look at what lies ahead for property law during 2023 – including decisions on service charges, the implications of the Building Safety Act 2022 and changes to the Electronic Communications Code. We also debate whether the government should stay away from property law and discuss the types of dispute we expect to see crossing our desks this year…

The cases and new legislation referred to in this episode of Property Patter are:

• Sara & Hossein Asset Holdings v. Blacks Outdoor Retail [2023] UKSC 2 – read our blog here
• 89 Holland Park v. Dell [2022] UKUT 169
• Cornerstone Telecommunications Infrastructure Limited v. Compton Beauchamp Estates Ltd; Cornerstone Telecommunications Infrastructure Ltd v. Ashloch Ltd and AP Wireless II (UK) Ltd; On Tower UK Ltd v. AP Wireless II (UK) Ltd [2022] UKSC 18
• Building Safety Act 2022
• Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022
• Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill 2022/2023
• Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022 (amending the Electronic Communications Code and the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954)
• Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Property) (England and Wales) Regulations 2015

Sustainability Leaders: Guy Battle, Social Value Portal and Liam Ronan-Chlond, Socius Development

How can property developers create and measure social value?

In 2021 we were proud to promote Kerry Stares as our Responsible Business Partner, reflecting how critical responsible business and environmental, social and governance (or ESG) issues are for the success and sustainability of our firm and how critical they are for our clients.

Kerry works with stakeholders across our business to understand and improve our own environmental and social impact as a business. She works with our clients to understand their ESG priorities and to ensure that we are providing them with the right advice and support, both in our traditional role as advisors and as business partners. She also works with our intermediaries and wider networks to explore opportunities for thought leadership and collaboration in the complex and fast moving world of ESG.

Kerry’s conversations are so rich in insights from our clients and intermediaries - many of whom are true sustainability leaders - that we decided to record and share them as a podcast series.

We hope that you enjoy and find them useful – please share your feedback.

In this episode Kerry talks to Guy Battle, CEO of the Social Value Portal and Liam Ronan-Chlond, Head of Engagement at Socius Development about what creating social value means for property developers and how they can measure and manage it. They discuss what developers are already doing well, where the sector needs to make progress and unpack the different commercial incentives that combine to make a strong business case for developers investing in creating social value.

What’s new in employment law podcast: The year ahead in 2023

In this episode of our ‘What’s new in employment law’ podcast, Employment Partner Nick Hurley and Senior Associate Emily Chalkley look at what we can expect in 2023 in the wake of legislative changes and the impact of hybrid working.

Property Patter: Life Sciences

Life Sciences is one of the most talked about real estate asset classes. Louise Ward, Head of Real Estate Life Sciences, is joined by Orestis Tzortzoglou, Vice President for Development at BioMed Realty and Matt Smith, Head of Life Science Agency at DTRE to look back at what happened in the market last year, and to look ahead what is coming up for this exciting asset class in 2023. 

Property Patter: Damages

How are damages assessed by the Courts? 

Remedies are perhaps the main thing on a client’s mind when they start the process of litigation. In this episode of Property Patter, Emma Humphreys is joined by Sam Lear of our Real Estate Disputes team and Hannah Gornall of our Commercial Dispute Resolution team to discuss the remedy of damages. 

What’s new in employment law podcast: Innovative reward schemes

As employers compete for the best talent, looking at new ways to reward staff is a key driver for recruitment and retention.

In this episode of our "What’s new in employment law" podcast Employment Partner, Mike Powner, and Senior Associate Clare Davis share their thoughts and experiences of innovative reward schemes. 

Property Patter: Break options in renewal leases

How break rights work for business tenancies protected by the 1954 Act

What grounds does a landlord need to satisfy in order to terminate this type of lease? And when can a landlord or a tenant seek to insert a break option into a renewal lease? Richard Flenley and Emma Preece join Emma Humphreys takes a closer look.

Cases referred to during this podcast are listed below:

• O’May v City of London Real Property Ltd [1982] 261 EG 1185
• HPUT Trustee No 1 Limited & HPUT Trustee No 2 Limited v Boots UK Limited (County Court at Central London, Unreported, 24 May 2021)
• Reohorn v Barry Corporation [1956] 1 WLR 845
• Adams v Green [1978] 2 E.G.L.R. 46
• National Car Parks Ltd v The Paternoster Consortium Ltd [1990] 1 EGLR 99

Property Patter: The Notorious ESG?

ESG is everywhere.  But what is it about and what is its potential impact on the property sector? Emma Humphreys is joined by David Tonks, Head of Repurposing at Cushman & Wakefield) and Kerry Stares, our Responsible Business Partner, to discuss these issues and the implications of the increasing prominence of ESG.

N.B. Please note that this episode was recorded in Spring 2022