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Lewis Silkin LLP shortlisted for The Lawyer Awards 2023

27 April 2023

Lewis Silkin LLP and Farrer & Co have been shortlisted in the Real Estate Team of the Year category in The Lawyer Awards 2023.

Lewis Silkin LLP and Farrer & Co have been shortlisted in the Real Estate Team of the Year category in The Lawyer Awards 2023 - the ultimate stage for legal mastery in the UK, honouring top-notch lawyers and powerhouse firms across diverse areas. Jointly, the team have been recognised for their work acting for Shinfield Studios Limited on the construction, financing and real estate aspects of the state-of-the-art film studio facility that is being developed at Shinfield Studios, Shinfield, near Reading.

The UK’s high end TV (HETV) and film industry is booming; the British Film Institute (BFI) reports that the industry spent £5.6bn in the UK in 2021, a figure that could reach £7.6bn a year by 2025. As a result, the demand for film studio space has skyrocketed. Over recent years big name players including Prime Video (Amazon’s streaming arm) and Disney have block-booked well known British film studios such as Shepperton and Pinewood, creating need for new options.

The Shinfield Studios project is one of the most significant new developments being built in response. A greenfield new build development of nearly 1 million square feet of studio space, it includes 18 purpose-built sound stages, together with offices, workshops and infrastructure. The new facility constitutes a major piece of international investment into the UK HETV and film industry, and is expected to generate between £500-600m of inward investment annually. Further, the project is expected to create in the region of 3,000 new jobs and present exciting opportunities for businesses and others supporting the HETV and film sector.

Lewis Silkin oversaw the construction contracts and construction aspects of the financing and equity raise. The Lewis Silkin team was led by Clare Reddy, Partner and Head of Construction, supported by Owen Williams, Managing Associate.

Ian Johnson, Director of Shinfield Studios Limited, wrote: “It was a pleasure to work with Clare and the team at Lewis Silkin. The team combine strong commercial awareness and a thorough understanding of the bigger picture. They did a superb job of anticipating the challenges, were highly responsive, and provided advice that quickly cut through to the heart of the issues. We very much hope to work with Lewis Silkin on future projects.”

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