Chris Pine, Whole Foods

'We’re a quality food store with a tremendous commitment to natural and organic products, and we have a very successful business in the US and Canada. We decided to expand into the UK. There is clearly an opportunity for us to be successful here. The market is already looking forward to what we do. It’s a highly educated market, prosperous, with no language barriers - except we'll probably have to learn how to speak a little better!

We wanted a landmark building for our first UK store. We chose what was Barkers in Kensington - a unique site. We brought Nabarro in to help us with the acquisition. We were introduced to them by our agents Cushman and we knew that they were working with Apple. We got along well right away.

Nabarro has been a big help in introducing us to the complexity of the UK legal system and helping us navigate through it. The Barkers deal was an acquisition of a lease with further complexities. Not only did we get to consummate the deal but they also helped us understand the process for future deals.

So they were very helpful on the lease acquisition, and carried through planning and construction documentation. Property, planning, construction - that was the support that we got on Kensington and I found it to be tremendous.

Nabarro’s strengths include understanding the US retailers’ needs - the American system, where the differences lay and therefore what we were going to need to know in the UK.

They also matched our speed, acting quickly and effectively. They moved the lease along in a way that we’re used to, in more of an American style. We like to move a project along!

The work that they did, how hard they worked, how long they worked and sacrificing personal time to make sure that we got this deal done in a timely manner - that was very telling for me.

And personally, I like them. When you’re spending that much time with somebody, this matters! I found them to be engaging, and they clearly put us as a major priority. I really felt that we were very important to them.

Our flagship store is due to launch in June 2007. We plan to continue expanding in the UK as the right stores become available. We’re hoping for it to be three or five for 2007, provided we can find the right site with the right planning consent, which is challenging. As we move forward, I’ll need Nabarro to help me with this.'