Brabners strengthens national real estate offering with double partner hire & new London office

We’ve strengthened our real estate practice in London and Leeds with the appointment of Partners Susan Samuel and Matt Ramsden as we open our new permanent office at 4 Coleman Street in the heart of the City of London.

Advancing our long-term growth strategy

Both moves represent the next steps in our nine-year growth strategy as we continue to amplify our national reach and strengthen our ability to serve clients operating across the UK and internationally. With revenue surpassing £60.2m and pre-tax profits of £20.3m in FY2025, we’re now approaching 600 colleagues across five offices and entering the UK's largest legal market from a position of strength. 

Susan Samuel to lead development of our London practice

Susan joins us with nearly 30 years’ experience in UK and international real estate investment, development and asset management. She’ll play a central role in developing our London practice while also helping to build out our presence in Leeds.

In her new role, she’ll work closely with our newly appointed London team, including corporate Partner Stuart Hatcher — who brings extensive experience advising privately owned businesses and deep sector expertise in sport — and litigation Partner Russell Strong, who specialises in high‑value commercial litigation and international arbitration.

They join long‑serving Partner Ross Shine, who continues to lead our real estate practice and Partner Euri Yoon, who strengthens our tax advisory capabilities across the corporate team — all now based in our new London office.

Matt Ramsden strengthens our Leeds-based investment team

Matt joins our Leeds office to support our investment and property management team. He brings particular expertise in helping clients to manage complex retail and office assets, with a focus on improving processes and delivering commercially focused advice tailored to portfolio needs.

A new London home at 4 Coleman Street

Our new London office, located in the historic Moorgate area, spans 5,300 square feet and holds a BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rating — aligned with our recent B Corp recertification and commitment to becoming fully net zero by 2040.

Quotes

Robert White, CEO, said: "Susan and Matt’s appointments, along with our move into London, are grounded in our success over recent years as well as the market opportunities ahead. We’ve genuinely built an independent law firm with a national reach from our office locations in the North — and now is the right time to reflect that national reach with the opening of our new permanent office in London. 

With Susan and Matt working with Stuart, Russell and the wider team that we’ve assembled, we have the right people in the right place to continue to build something special — now assisted by having a physical presence in the largest legal market in the country — building on our ability to serve clients with complex, multi-jurisdictional needs."

 

Nik White, Managing Partner, added: "4 Coleman Street reflects who we are as a firm — it's a well-designed space, operated to the highest sustainability standards and genuinely supports the wellbeing of our colleagues. The real story here, however, is the calibre of the people that we've attracted. Susan and Matt's appointments are particularly significant and bring the kind of expertise, market standing and client relationships that reflect our ambition in the Capital."

Susan Samuel said: "Brabners has built something genuinely distinctive with the quality of its people, the strength of its client relationships and a real clarity about the kind of firm that it wants to be. There's a clear opportunity here to deliver commercially focused, high-quality advice at a time when real estate investors and landlords are under significant pressure to adapt to changing requirements. 

Taking a central role in building the London practice — based on a firm foundation in Leeds — allows us to bring together best practice across the firm and support our clients' increasingly complex, multi-location needs.”

Commercial momentum underpins opening 

Our hiring momentum and investment in new a workspace is supported by continued growth across our service lines. Our corporate team, for example, remained one of the UK’s most active dealmakers during the period, advising on transactions worth more than £500m in the first half of 2025 alone — double the value of the same period the previous year. Standout mandates included advising on the sale of a majority stake in William Hare Group, a £350m‑turnover engineering firm.

This commercial growth has been matched by market recognition, with Brabners named Regional Firm of the Year at the Legal Business Awards 2025, ESG Firm of the Year and Dispute Resolution Firm of the Year at the Legal 500 Northern Powerhouse Awards 2026 and commended in three categories in The Times Best Law Firms 2026.

From our new base at 4 Coleman Street, we bring together deep sector expertise across corporate, litigation, real estate and tax — all underpinned by our purpose‑led approach and commitment to making a difference for our clients, people and the communities that we serve.

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