JMW snaps up office space in the heart of the City

Full service law firm JMW Solicitors LLP has agreed terms on the lease for a further floor of prime office accommodation at Kings House in Bank, London as well as another 5,188 square foot of prestige office space at 3 Hardman Street in Spinningfields, Manchester.

JMW has expanded its office space in London taking a 3rd floor in Kings House which is situated in the business district of Bank. The firm has taken a further 3,500 square foot of prestige office accommodation, which with its existing footprint comprises half of Kings House entire office space, with a further three floors of office space and two further floors of retail and lobby space situated in the building. JMW was advised on the lease by George Blakemore of Devono Cresa and the landlord AIK Immobilien-Investmentgesellschaft mbH was advised by James Gilbert of Savills. Both agents advised on each of the three lease deals.

JMW only opened its London office in May 2019 and now has over 90 Partners and staff. The firm now has over 9,000 square foot of prime office space across the 6th, 5th and 2nd floors of King House. The fit out of the London office was undertaken once again by Dthree which also worked on the previous two fit outs. Despite the pandemic the London office has continued to expand, in the last six months it has recruited 39 people, nine of which were at Partner level. Recent hires include Andrew Li and two colleagues joining the Real Estate team from Laytons LLP. There were also five hires in the Family team including Patrick Hart, who joined as a Partner with three colleagues from Royds Withy King and Tracey Rodford, Partner who joined from Camilla Baldwin.

In Manchester, JMW now occupies just short of 20,000 square foot of space at 3 Hardman Street, Spinningfields in addition to the firm’s existing office space in Manchester at 1 Byrom Place. The commercial teams in Manchester now occupy the majority of the 4th floor at 3 Hardman Street since they originally moved the Real Estate team there in 2017. The Commercial Litigation and Corporate Recovery & Insolvency teams moved in to the new office space at the start of February 2021.

Commenting on the expansion of office accommodation for JMW, Joy Kingsley, Senior Partner said: “Due to our continued further recruitment in London we have decided to take an additional floor in Kings House to accommodate Partners and staff. Our 3rd floor of office accommodation means that there is room for further expansion for all our departments in London. It has been a period of rapid growth for our London office and as a firm we are delighted to have invested in this further office space for them. The additional accommodation highlights our continued growth and investment for the future of the firm.

“We entered into these lease obligations during the pandemic showing our commitment to the cities of Manchester and London into the future. We have provided our workforce in both locations with a workplace to enable collaborative office working in tandem with some home working where possible or when necessary.”

Commenting on the further office space in London, Head of the London Office, Lee Adams said: “We are all delighted with our additional floor of office accommodation and the fit out of it at Kings House. We are extremely pleased with our fantastic office space and the location of it in the business district of Bank is superb. It is unbelievable that we have grown so much in London in just under two years, needing an extra two floors of office space since we took our first lease in May 2019.

“I am very grateful to Joy Kingsley and all the board at JMW for supporting the continued expansion of the London office.”