Gateley Legal’s investment in growing its presence and offering to Thames Valley clients rewarded
Gateley’s Thames Valley clients are predominantly serviced by its Gateley Legal Reading and Guildford offices, which together picked up the Property Law Firm of the Year category at the Thames Valley Property Awards in November 2022.
At the time of the award, Andy Wilson, partner at the Reading office, (pictured left above with Christopher Avery) said: “We are absolutely delighted to receive this accolade, which is a testament to the hard work and dedication of all our teams working across the Thames Valley.
“This reflects our specified purpose of delivering results that will delight our clients, inspire our people, while also supporting the communities in which we operate.”
Louise Paterson, partner and the newly appointed head of the Guildford office, added: “It is fantastic for us to win this award as it recognises the excellent work and efforts of our team, who always go the extra mile to deliver great results for Gateley and, most importantly, the best service to our clients.”
Seven years of growth
The award success was a culmination of Gateley’s efforts over the past seven years, during which time the company has invested in growing its presence and offering to clients in the Thames Valley region. Gateley opened its Reading office in 2015 with an ambition of establishing a strong presence in the Thames Valley region. Within six months the company had occupied the top floor of the Blade, which in turn led to a move to The Forbury, where today it employs more than 40 legal professionals, 10 of which are property lawyers. This growth continues, with a recruitment drive for the Reading office bringing seven new starters into the business between November 2022 and February 2023.
Gateley’s Thames Valley team and the Property Sector
Working closely and in conjunction with the Reading team is Gateley’s Guildford office, which was initially created by the acquisition of GCL Solicitors in 2018 and now has a team of more than 90 property professionals at the office. This enabled Gateley to move into premises that could accommodate the continued expansion of the team. Guildford includes one of Gateley’s largest residential development teams and, alongside Reading, works with housebuilders and property developer clients right across the South East. Its presence in the Thames Valley region has also grown significantly since 2018.
Gateley has considerable experience in acting for a wide range of housebuilders and developers and has made its mark by being involved in the abundance of developments in the region.
Towards the end of 2022, the team significantly widened its client base and witnessed a surge in received instructions, while increasing its number of housebuilder panel appointments. As a result, Gateley invested in bringing in and developing new talent to handle this burgeoning workload spanning across London, the South East, and also out towards the South West.
The Guildford Residential Development team is also investing in new talent with initiatives such as a framework promotion programme, designed for trainees through to senior conveyancers, and apprenticeship schemes.
Louise Paterson commented: “Due to consistently delivering results that delight our clients, we’re receiving a high number of repeat instructions alongside work from new clients. To ensure that this workload is carried out to our high standards, we have invested in expanding our team further.
“As well as building up specialisms, we are investing heavily in the training of new talent to create a home-grown team that truly understands the needs of our developer clients in this region. We are also committed to expanding our service with additional tools such as advanced CRM system integration – which is an exciting development – and will be a great offering for our clients.”
Gateley works for housebuilders of all sizes, with its client portfolio including 18 of the top 20 largest housebuilding firms in the UK. The company also acts for land promoters, regeneration specialists, large-scale registered providers and landowners who are looking to sell land for residential development. The commercial real estate team also works with many of the UK’s major lenders.
The team advises a variety of UK and international corporate clients on acquisitions and disposals of various types of commercial property, from individual properties to the acquisition or sale of whole portfolios. It also acts for a number of institutional landlords and corporate tenants on estate management matters, including the negotiation of leases of offices, retail and leisure units, data centres, factories and industrial units for corporate occupiers. The team also has experience and focus on the hotels, care home and student accommodation sectors, acting for investors, operators and banks. All this activity takes place across Reading and Guildford, but also throughout London and the South East.
AIM listed
On a national level, Gateley was the first law firm to list on AIM, the London Stock Exchange’s growth market. It now employs more than 1,400 people, while supporting more than 5,700 clients, from FTSE 100 companies, to private individuals, in the UK and beyond. Its client base is strong and loyal with 96% of its clients regularly recommending its services.
Gateley advises its clients through a range of legal and consultancy services on four platforms designed for chosen markets which are comprised of corporate, business services, people and property. It prides itself on being forward thinking and aims to help its clients solve the challenges they face while maximising opportunities.
As a listed business, delivering results is vital. However, for Gateley, results are not just about financials, it is about meeting its purpose of delivering results that delight clients, inspire people while supporting communities.
As part of this, Gateley’s responsible business activities focus on the wellbeing of employees, on being a force for good in society as well as playing an active part in protecting and repairing the planet.
Delivering with Purpose
Gateley’s latest Responsible Business Report, ‘Delivering with Purpose’, was released in December 2022 and highlights the progress that has been made, while outlining its plans and objectives for the year ahead. More on Gateley’s responsible business ethos and activities can be found here.
Summing up at the end of 2022, Andy Wilson said: “We have come a long way since the Reading office opened seven years ago and have established excellent relationships
with a wide range of excellent clients, being involved in numerous high-value transactions. “Receiving the Property Law Firm of the Year award was a great way to end 2022 and we look forward to building upon our success as we head into 2023.”
