Retail overview

We understand the retail sector and deliver commercial tailored solutions to our clients

With traditional product boundaries blurring, the increasing pressure of the internet, a squeeze on high street margins and a shortage of retail space, these are testing times for retailers. Every decision is crucial; we can help. 

Through our experience of working with retail clients we have developed a wide knowledge of the sector and the issues affecting it. Our cross-practice team of retail specialists includes leading individuals from corporate, real estate, employment, construction, dispute resolution, IP and competition, with wider support from other key areas across the firm. We regularly share know-how and issues to ensure we are up-to-date with matters of importance concerning retailers and are therefore able to give the best and most tailored advice.

We have a long history of advising retail clients, including some of the UK’s leading companies: Apple, Burberry, Capital Shopping Centres, Diesel, Gap, Harrods, HMV, Krispy Kreme, Land Securites, Nike, Tesco, The Junction, The Mall and Westfield.

Our latest alerts, briefings & reports
  • Humpty Dumpty and the sequential approach – Tesco v Dundee  
It is well established that, when determining planning applications, planning authorities must proceed upon a proper understanding of the development plan. But is it for the planning authority, or for the courts, to decide what amounts to a "proper understanding"? This briefing looks at the key points arising from a recent UK Supreme Court decision on this question and the potential for that decision to drive a coach and horses through the meaning of "suitable" in the context of the sequential approach.  View full briefing
  • Social value: new duties for public procurers  
A decision by the High Court last week has provided further confirmation on the test which determines when a development agreement will be subject to the public procurement rules and when it will be a land transfer outside of the rules. View full briefing
  • National Planning Policy Framework: a new agenda for growth  
The Government has published its much anticipated National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) which is a key part of the growth agenda. It contains the well publicised new presumption in favour of sustainable development. The NPPF replaces over a thousand pages of government planning policies with a single 59-page document. So what are the key implications for developers and the planning process?  View full briefing
  • Fake goods in transit: carry on counterfeiting!  
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has ruled that fake goods arriving from outside the EU, supposedly en route to other non-EU countries, cannot be confiscated unless there is proof they are intended for sale in the EU. View full briefing
  • Court of Appeal confirms that repeat guarantors are unlawful   
A tenant's guarantor cannot be required to give a guarantee when the tenant assigns its lease. Such a guarantee will be invalid. This was confirmed today by the Court of Appeal in the long-awaited House of Fraser decision (which affirms the decision in the Good Harvest case). View full briefing
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