Culture & Heritage

York Minster

We advised on a major £8.5 million project linked to an iconic Yorkshire landmark in 2023.

Our specialist Construction team advised on many of the construction legal aspects for York Minster’s new Centre of Excellence for Heritage Craft Skills and Estate Management. This included completing both the construction contract and design team appointments. Local specialist heritage contractor Simpson began work on the project in 2024, with the build fully funded by the York Minster Charity.

The Centre is a first-of-its-kind project dedicated to securing the environmental, financial, and heritage sustainability of the York Minster. It includes the development of both The Heritage Quad and The Works and Technology Hub, which will provide new facilities for craftspeople and deliver training to apprentices and students from all over the world.

Existing buildings will also be repurposed with the aim of engaging visitors in the process of conservation and restoration, while the project will showcase a host of cutting-edge sustainable features too. These will include a green roof, rainwater harvesting, solar panels, air source heat pumps and mechanical ventilation with heat recovery. We were proud to advise on such an eco-friendly project involving a Yorkshire institution that has created work for a contractor and consultants based in our region. Its focus on promoting conservation will also hopefully ensure people recognise the importance of looking after our oldest and most iconic buildings in Yorkshire and beyond, as well as the need to invest in and maintain our heritage skills.

Canal & River Trust

We work on all aspects of Canal & River Trust’s extensive property portfolio from small licence agreements to multi million pound investments and developments. The Trust are the third largest owner of listed buildings and other structures in the UK, with over 2,700 listed structures, 46 scheduled ancient monuments and four UNESCO World Heritage sites in their care, as well as over 2,000 miles of historic canals and rivers including 2,970 bridges, 1,581 locks and 281 aqueducts.

A large number of our transactions with the Trust relate to historic buildings and structures. We ensure we protect this historic built environment through the contracts we assist the Trust with and we also act for the Trust on a number of CPO related issues.

In addition to working on the Trust’s property portfolio we also act on defending claims made against the Trust together with advice on data protection and freedom of information requests.

Roundhouse Birmingham

Advising on the historic Roundhouse Birmingham restoration – a joint venture between Canal & River Trust and the National Trust, supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, on the property and construction aspects of the restoration of this Grade II listed building and the subsequent management of the Property.

Historic England

We acted for The Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England (“Historic England”) in its assignment and leaseback of a large property in Swindon to the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. The matter was a part of the Government Property Agency’s (GPA) programme whereby the GPA are able to require that a freehold or long leasehold transfer and leaseback takes place. The transaction required detailed negotiation and liaison between all parties.

We acted for Historic England in the grant of leases of part of the historic Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings site. Part of this property has been carefully restored and converted into office space. We negotiated leases of part to occupiers, all the time having to bear in mind the unique nature of the building, the site and the obligations on the parties to account for these.

Manchester City Council

Advised Manchester City Council on a deal that will see the transformation of two historic buildings in Manchester city centre into a new tech hub, with the potential to create over 1,000 new jobs. Advised Manchester City Council on all aspects of the deal, including due diligence, the structure of the deal, construction warranties and contract negotiations, drawing on the expertise of a team of commercial property lawyers.

Museum of London

We have advised the City of London Corporation on its flagship project for the relocation of the Museum of London from its London Wall premises to the repurposed General Market and Poultry Market Buildings. The project is vast and complex and we have advised the City since 2015 on land assembly, title interface issues with adjoining landowners, compulsory purchase matters relating to Crossrail, funding arrangements, planning matters, construction supply chain documentation and a series of works agreement and an agreement for development and lease. We have worked very closely with the Museum’s legal advisers to ensure that the approach to the legal documentation has accommodated the Museum’s preferred approach to the procurement of their base build works and highly specialist fit-out.

Data Protection/Information Law

• Assisted a museum to ensure that supporter data was being held and used in accordance with data protection and PECR – with a view to maximising the potential of the data.
• Assisted a theatre with data sharing agreements, consent mechanisms and privacy notice wording to ensure that requirements in relation to a funding agreement could be met, whilst also ensuring that the theatre would not be in breach of data protection requirements.
• Advised an art gallery on the requirements of PECR in relation to fundraising. This included assessing risks in the current approach, and suggesting practical solutions to mitigate ongoing risks of the proposed course of action.
• Advised a membership organisation in the heritage sector on data sharing arrangements with a national body – including drafting of a balanced data sharing agreement.
• Advised on the data protection implications of sharing of large volumes of data for research purposes – including dealing with common law duty of confidence obligations and the DEA. This work involved drafting bespoke data sharing agreements for participants, and data processing arrangements for a TRE.
• Advised a charity that runs a stately home on a subject access request made by an employee that had been injured on the property and had objected to the Trustees discussing their potential claim.
• Advised membership organisations in the heritage sector on data sharing arrangements in connection with multiple shared services, including advising on the data protection relationships between the parties and putting in place legally compliant data processing provisions, controller to controller data sharing provisions and joint controller provisions.

Alexandra Theatre 

We have been appointed to assist with the £18m transformation of the Alexandra Theatre in Bognor Regis. Our appointment was made by Arun District Council (ADC). The Council was awarded £12.9 million of Levelling Up funding and will contribute up to £6 million of its own money to finalise the transformation. 
 
The Alexandra Theatre is a community led regional theatre complex (auditorium and five studios) situated on the seafront in Bognor Regis. The theatre presents a broad and popular programme with a mix of community productions, pantomime, music, musical theatre, drama, comedy and dance, together with a number of special events and bar/restaurant with art and display areas. 
 
The Alexandra Theatre was built in 1980 and forms part of the Regis Centre. The building had deteriorated significantly over the last 40 years and despite ongoing repair work, it was deemed no longer fit for purpose. 
 
The refurbishment consists of a partial demolition, new extension, and full refurbishment (fit-out/technical and AV), to accommodate for more seating capacity in the main auditorium and five new studios, two of which will be fully performance equipped to facilitate multiple and simultaneous performances. All studios will be technically and audio visually linked and able to accommodate up to 360 seats in addition to the 390 in the main auditorium (750 in total) for key-note performances across the complex. The theatre will also be set adjacent to a recently constructed (by ADC) public piazza which will host further linked open air shows and events and accommodate further external seating for the café/bar/restaurant. The theatre is set to re-open in 2026.
 
We have provided legal assistance in respect of: the Pre-Contract Services Agreement, the JCT Minor Works Contract for strip out and early works, and the main 2024 JCT Design and Build Contract, all with Neilcott Construction Ltd.