Dawson Hart Solicitors are delighted to announce the recruitment of Andrew Rannie to the firm. With over a decade of property experience, Andrew joins the firm as a Director and as the new Head of the Property Department. Andrew said “I’m delighted to be joining Dawson Hart, a firm with such a long history in Uckfield and with an enviable reputation in the area.”
In addition to carrying out Residential Conveyancing work, Andrew will be specialising in Commercial Property transactions. This will include all aspects of freehold property, such as sales & purchases, dealing with rights of way or drainage, acting on all types of development land, at whatever stage. Andrew will also be working with landlord and tenant clients on leasehold properties, such as retail, office and industrial premises, whether at the start or at the renewal of a lease, or any dealing with the premises during the lifetime of the lease.
As well as property matters, Andrew will also be dealing with business transfers, i.e. where a business is bought or sold as a going concern. His experience in these transfers ranges between small businesses changing hands for under £10,000, to larger concerns where the price tag is several million. Andrew has worked with business owners from many industries but most commonly works with high street retail, cafes & restaurants, and hotels & guest houses.
Dawson Hart offer a free 30 minute initial interview to all clients, so Andrew is particularly keen to get the message out to people that they shouldn’t be afraid of contacting a solicitor at an earlier stage. “Solicitors are often only instructed once the deal has been done. However, I prefer to speak to someone about their plans sooner rather than later because I can then, if necessary, raise awareness of issues so that they can be resolved during the early negotiations rather than have them become a problem, and slow things down, later on.”
A classic example of this is in relation to commercial leases. Tenants often negotiate these themselves direct with the landlord’s agent, who is usually a Chartered Surveyor experienced in leasehold terms. However, a business owner may not be aware of all the issues that have to be considered or of all the options available to them so they can find that they have agreed terms that are better for the landlord than for themselves. When agreeing the length of the lease, for example, some tenants do not know that they can ask for break clauses, enabling them to get out of the lease before the fixed term; when discussing the repairing obligations, limitations can be agreed to protect the tenant. Whilst Dawson Hart would not look to act on behalf of a tenant in negotiating the terms directly, timely advice to our clients as to the relevant issues to consider can be most valuable.
If you want any advice or assistance on any property matter or business transfer, please call Andrew Rannie on 01825 745156.
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