14th April 2025 ❘

We advised on £455m deals and £600m of new lending in our first year at Citygate

Banking Partner and Head of Newcastle Nicola Nutley

We advised on £455m deals and £600m of new lending in our first year at Citygate

In a very successful first year at our new Citygate office, our Corporate and Commercial Property teams  advised on over 150 deals with a total value of £455m, and our Banking and Property Finance team completed over 350 transactions facilitating over £600m of new lending to SME borrowers throughout England and Wales.

We relocated from our former office at Milburn House on Dean Street to a new state-of-the-art workspace at 1 Citygate in March 2024 and in the year since, our team has grown with a number of key appointments and promotions, we received top tier rankings from both Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners and demand for our commercial services has grown.

Our Corporate team advised on over 90 deals with a combined value of over £400m. These included the sale of Simply Certification and Brighter Compliance to Normec UK Certification.  Austin Gibbons, Managing Director of Brighter Compliance said:

“The team at Burnetts were absolutely amazing.  They immediately recognised the urgency of the transaction and went above and beyond to ensure it was completed by the required deadline.  What we really appreciated was the team’s ability to break down complex issues and present them in a structured and clear manner, which made it easy for us to understand, enabling us to collaborate effectively in the negotiations.”

Our Banking and Property Finance team, described by clients as “a breath of fresh air”, completed over 350 banking transactions, the vast majority being transactions for commercial lender clients, facilitating a total of over £600m of new lending to SME borrowers throughout England and Wales. The team was re-appointed to the lending panels for Atom Bank PLC and Lloyds Bank PLC and continued to cement its reputation for carrying out lending work in the healthcare sector, acting on numerous deals for the acquisition of pharmacies, dental practices, vets and care homes.

Our Commercial Property team acted on over 60 deals with a value of £55m, including £12m of construction transactions for new build and refurbishment developments, and advising on the sale of prominent industrial estate Benton Business Park for an undisclosed sum.

Phil Rodgers, Director of Benton House Limited said:

“The team at Burnetts provided exceptional legal advice and support throughout the entire sale process. Their expertise and professionalism were invaluable, and we are very grateful for their assistance.”

Reflecting on the last year, Nicola Nutley, our Head of Newcastle and Head of our Banking and Property Finance team, said:

“We made a seven-figure investment in our relocation to Citygate and in doing so, demonstrated our commitment to becoming an intrinsic part of Newcastle’s corporate landscape, so we’re very happy to see this vision coming to fruition.  The level of specialism and expertise in our commercial teams is remarkable – as demonstrated in these figures – and it’s great to see this being recognised in the form of increased demand for our services.”