Biography
Laura is a partner in the construction team, specialising in non-contentious construction work.
Laura acts for a range of clients including developers, local authorities, contractors, sub-contractors and funders. She has extensive experience in advising on complex projects across a variety of sectors, covering commercial, residential, retail and leisure, healthcare and local government.
Laura's procurement experience covers standard forms of construction contract (including JCT, NEC, MF/1 and FIDIC), together with bespoke forms of contract, professional consultant appointments and all manner of ancillary construction legal documentation. She also works regularly with Ashfords’ Real Estate team in drafting, negotiating and advising on the construction aspects of agreements for lease, sale contracts and development agreements.
Outside of her construction work, Laura is Ashfords’ Training Principal, responsible for managing our trainee recruitment, overseeing training contracts and acting as the related point of contact for the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
Relevant experience
International retailer: Acting for the client in connection with a range of non-contentious construction matters, to facilitate continued expansion of the business and associated infrastructure. Work to date has included drafting, negotiating and advising on the construction documentation (including JCT, MF/1, FIDIC and bespoke contracts) for: (i) new processing and distribution centres; (ii) the client's new office HQ; and (iii) store fit-out and other business infrastructure projects across Europe.
DP World: Advising on the construction aspects of various new-build lettings at DP World London Gateway in Essex, one of the largest deep sea container ports and associated logistics parks in Europe.
Populo Living: Acting for Populo Living (the London Borough of Newham’s housing delivery company) in connection with a high value and strategically significant project to design and construct a number of new residential tower blocks in East London (some of which constitute ‘Higher Risk Buildings’ and are therefore subject to the more stringent regulatory requirements of the Building Safety Act). The project is set to deliver hundreds of new homes for the people of Newham.
Cladding remediation work: Acting for various high-rise block management companies in navigating the construction aspects of cladding remediation projects across the country funded by the Cladding Safety Scheme.
The Royal Parks: Advising The Royal Parks on various construction contracts and professional appointments relating to the client’s wide-ranging portfolio of projects, including the Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Playground in Kensington Gardens.
Torridge District Council: Acting for the Council in connection with the NEC contracts and ancillary construction documentation relating to the design and construction of the Appledore Clean Maritime Innovation Centre. The new Centre will provide a state-of-the-art research hub to support innovation in fields including clean propulsion, maritime cyber security, aquaculture and environmental intelligence.
Leisure Centre work: Drafting, negotiating and advising on the building contract and ancillary construction documentation for (i) the St Sidwells Point leisure centre in Exeter (being the UK's first Passivhaus leisure centre and one of the world’s most energy efficient swimming facilities); and (ii) Cranbrook Leisure Centre in East Devon.
