CMS adds to Manchester team with London hires

Law firm CMS has trebled the size of its construction team in Manchester, a number of which have joined from London firms, as it continues to advise on some of the most high-profile projects in the city including Mayfield, the Northern Gateway, and Circle Square.

The energy, projects, and construction team in Manchester is headed up by former Pinsent Masons partner Chris Hallam, and has added four staff in the last nine months.

Hires this summer include Kate Jones, who has joined from Brabners’ Liverpool office in June, having trained with Clyde & Co; and Chris Alman, who has relocated from London-based firm Pennington Manches. He joined the firm last month.

Previously, CMS has added Nigel Lewis, who joined as a partner from Birmingham-based Gowling WLG in November 2017, and Elizabeth Ormesher, who joined from CMS’ London office in March. Two more hires are expected in the coming months, both of which will be from London-based firms.

The team was set up by Hallam in March 2016 as Nabarro, but has since joined the CMS brand after Nabarro was merged with the company in May last year. The Manchester office is at 1 The Avenue in Spinningfields, and focusses on real estate, construction, infrastructure, and corporate law.

Projects the construction team is advising on include Mayfield, where the team is the sole legal advisors to the Mayfield Partnership, led by developer U+I, which is pressing forward with an £800m overhaul of the site next to Piccadilly Station.

Other projects the CMS team is working on include Renaker’s Deansgate Square; Marcus Worthington Group’s speculative office development at 125 Deansgate; and Far East Consortium’s £1bn Northern Gateway, a 15,000-home masterplan stretching from Victoria Station to Collyhurst.