I joined Tees in October 2024 as a Partner in the Commercial Property department, in the Agriculture, Rural and Estates team. I am based in the Royston office.

I qualified as a solicitor in 1999 and started my career working at a large, national law firm in London, gaining experience in all areas of Commercial Property. Before joining Tees I was a Partner in the Commercial Property team and Head of Rural at another Hertfordshire law firm.

I deal with all aspects of Commercial Property law but with a particular focus on agricultural, rural and Estates matters. I deal with matters such as:

• Acting for sellers and buyers of farmland / commercial properties, including conditional contracts
• Negotiating overage clauses
• Acting for Estates in relation to ongoing management issues, including the grant of leases
• The registration of unregistered land at the Land Registry
• Advising in relation to option and pre-emption agreements
• Drafting surrenders of Agricultural Holding Act tenancies and the grant of Farm Business Tenancies

My clients include private Estates, landowners, farmers, businesses, investors, owner-occupiers and high net-worth individuals.

Recent work highlights include:

• Acting for a landowning client on the grant of an option agreement to a developer
• Acting on the sale of a family farm, including negotiating the grant of rights over separately-owned land to the buyer as a condition of the sale
• Acting on the purchase of farmland, including areas of unregistered land
• Acting on the purchase of a farm subject to a grazing licence, a fishing licence and various commercial tenancies
• Acting on behalf of a wildlife charity on their purchase of a long lease of environmentally-important woodland

Delivering what you need

I particularly enjoy the variety of work that comes from the agricultural, rural and Estates sectors, as well as the interactions with clients, land agents and accountants. Working collaboratively with clients and their professional advisors helps to achieve the best possible outcome in the most efficient way.

I have built long-standing relationships with rural land agents and accountants in Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Buckinghamshire and beyond. I am always happy to speak with clients and their advisors about any agricultural, rural or Estates matter and to chat through issues, as this can prevent problems occurring down the line.

I pride myself on being proactive, friendly and approachable.