Practice areas

Simon is a consultant with the company and heads up the company’s agriculture team.

Simon practices in three key areas:

• agriculture and rural affairs;
• commercial real estate; and
• charities.

Key specialisms include:

• Development work (including option, pre-emption, collaboration, promotion and site acquisition and disposal agreements), and general commercial real estate acquisitions and disposals;
• Agricultural land acquisitions and disposals, easements, drainage obligations and rights, diversification projects including alternative uses of rural buildings and land, renewable energy, conservation projects, rural subsidies, tenancies, business structures including partnerships, companies and joint ventures, tax planning and trusts; and
• Charity formation, management and administration, governance and real estate acquisitions and disposals.

Simon is a member of the Agricultural Law Association, Country Land and the Business Association, and National Farmers Union.

Experience

Recent examples of how we have helped our clients include:

• Site assembly for residential development involving eight landowners including option and equalisation agreements;
• Over twenty promotion or option agreements in the last 12 months;
• Partnership and trust arrangements for agribusiness to maximise business and agricultural reliefs for inheritance tax; and
• Management and administration of an almshouse trust.

Personal

From 2001-2016 Simon was a trustee of St Giles Hospice, during that period he served 7 years as either Chairman or Deputy Chairman. He is now a trustee of the Guild of St Mary’s Centre, Lichfield.

Simon is Chairman of the H E and C T Robinson Charitable Trust, Clerk of Lichfield Municipal Charities and Warden of the Lichfield Conduit Lands Trust, Clerk of Michael Lowe’s and Associated Charities, Clerk of Swinfen Broun Trust and Clerk of Mary Slater Trust..

Simon is convinced that John Wayne was the greatest actor of the twentieth century.