Mills & Reeve hires planning partner

The law firm has boosted its Manchester real estate team to 20 with the appointment of Melanie Grimshaw as partner. 

Grimshaw joined from Pinsent Masons, where she spent almost six years as a senior associate in the energy and infrastructure and planning and environment team. 

At Mills & Reeve, she will work across a variety of projects including development planning, highways and compulsory purchase orders, as well as providing strategic legal advice on development proposals and contentious planning matters. 

Grimshaw will work alongside planning partners Peter Seaborn and Beverley Firth, and joins two other former Pinsent Masons real estate partners, Mike Edge and Rachel Pitman, who moved to Mills & Reeve in January 2018. 

Mike Edge, head of real estate for Mills & Reeve in Manchester, said: “The nature of our planning work is directed substantially at large-scale logistics projects, residential, offices and mixed-use schemes, and Melanie will greatly enhance our overall real estate offering here.” 

He added: “She will be joining a planning practice with national recognition particularly in strategic land and large-scale residential development. This is a great opportunity for us to build the planning team at Mills & Reeve, both nationally and in the North West.” 

The firm employs 140 real estate lawyers nationally.