“Clare is a pleasure to work with. She is knowledgeable, detailed, efficient and has digested and managed multiple moving parts on a complex £17.34m property refinance on our behalf, in a way that has earnt our complete trust.” Marcus Rooke, Managing Director, Kingscastle Limited.

Clare is an experienced commercial property solicitor acting for institutional investors, developers, and corporate occupiers, particularly in the retail and leisure, logistics and office sectors.

Clare has a particular focus acting for major corporate occupiers on all aspects of their site acquisitions and disposals across the UK and their ongoing portfolio management.

Clare is recognised as a leading Hampshire lawyer and was a finalist in the Hampshire Law Society – Lawyer of the Year 2024 – awards.

Her areas of specialist expertise include advising on landlord and tenant matters, negotiating conditional agreements for complex leases, acting on the acquisition and disposal of investment properties, including large portfolio acquisitions, and providing corporate support on M&A deals.

Clare joined Phillips as a legal director in 2021 from Stevens & Bolton in Guildford, having previously practised at international firms Olswang and Nabarro in London. She was promoted to partner in May 2023.

Recent work highlights include:

• advising Mactaggart Family & Partners and Longstock Capital Limited on a multi-million-pound agreement for lease with The Automobile Association for their new UK headquarters at Plant, Basingstoke. Plant, previously called Mountbatten House, is an iconic Grade II listed building in Hampshire;
• advising Kingscastle Limited, a sophisticated corporate investor, on a £17.34m refinancing of its portfolio of over 75 mixed-use properties located across the UK;
• advising renewable furniture design company Nordic Design House Limited on the acquisition of their new UK showroom in Clerkenwell, London;
• advising a well-known restaurant chain on its high value site acquisitions as part of an accelerated UK expansion and managing its portfolio requirements;
• acting for CRE and construction consultancy clients on their prime lettings of new head office space in central London;
• acting for a major insurance company on its conditional agreement for lease and lease of a mixed-use building in central London with a lease value of over £30m; and
• advising a large pharmaceutical company client on all property aspects of a £10m acquisition of distressed assets including the freehold purchase of a laboratory site for £4.9m.