Law firm Thrings has boosted its commercial property offering with the appointment of two new partners in its Bristol office.
Kate Egan-Martin and Naomi Manton, pictured, have joined the firm’s development of land service, bringing more than three decades of real estate and legal experience between them, including working in Top 100 law firms, local planning authorities, government departments and as in-house lawyers for national developers. 
The pair are already focused in particular on working with Thrings’ residential development sector clients across the country.
Naomi has joined from housebuilder Persimmon, where she was company solicitor for nearly two-and-a-half years. Prior to that she spent nearly 14 years at law firm Ashfords, specialising in commercial property.
Her expertise includes advising developers and registered providers on the acquisition and disposal of land for development, including sales to registered providers and private rented sector investors by way of golden brick and turnkey agreements.
During her career she has dealt with wide ranging issues impacting landowners and developers ranging from option agreements, conditional contracts and overage deeds to infrastructure agreements and defective title issues.
Naomi said: “Thrings has a well-deserved reputation for excellence within the property sector, representing some of the region’s biggest developers and it is great to be joining the team and helping contribute to their continued success.”
Kate has joined from HMRC, where she spent just over two years as an in-house lawyer working on the development and administration of property taxes.
Before that she worked at Bristol-headquartered VWV for seven-and-a-half years, providing commercial property advice to a range of clients with a focus on development.
At Thrings she is advising on every stage of residential development from exclusivity agreements through to plot and ground rent sales, as well as acting for public sector landowners on commercial and mixed-use developments and regeneration projects.
She is also building on her expertise around eco-friendly homes, both in build and materials, and in energy-efficient design.
Kate said: “Thrings’ development of land team cover a wide range of activities but their core focus is supporting their clients to succeed.
“By getting to know their clients and understand what drives them, we can be better placed to give them the strategic tailored advice to help them realise their commercial ambitions.”
Thrings partner and head of development of land Ros Trotman, pictured above, said Kate and Naomi brought a wealth of experience from across the sector that would prove invaluable to clients.
“They are joining a team experienced in the legal and commercial elements of development schemes, having built a reputation for providing practical advice and solutions throughout projects, from concept to delivery,” she added.
“I look forward to them hitting the ground running.”
Thrings, which employs around 350 people in its seven offices across the South West and South, works with clients on a range of land and construction-related matters, including development of land, planning, clean energy and commercial and residential property.
