Rima is a consultant in the commercial property team with a keen focus on the retail sector. Over the past 14 years she has gained experience working with some of the largest retail brands in the UK. Rima has particular expertise in acting for both landlords and tenants, and has a wealth of experience in property insolvency issues, in particular acting for the buyers of two famous high street retailers in administration and which was widely reported in the national press.
She also acts on the property aspects of corporate transactions. Recently Rima has become more involved in the property aspects of the renewable energy business and has dealt with leases and land acquisitions specifically related to that sector.
Expertise
- Portfolio management
- Assignments and under lettings
- Property aspects of the renewable energy market
- Property support for business sales and acquisitions
- Leases and issues relating to renewal leases and overriding leases/authorised guarantee agreements
- Disposals
- Land acquisition and development including site acquisition and setting up management companies
- Property finance (both primary and secondary lending)
- Insolvency issues, lease disclaimer, and all property aspects relating to administration, receivership, and liquidation
- Landlord and tenant disputes (pre-litigation)
- Acting for national mineral and quarry mining companies, expertise in specialist quarrying leases including leases with royalty payments and leases of railway sidings from Network Rail.
- Working in close contact with corporate colleagues in relation to the purchase and sale of businesses in particular quarrying and mining businesses
- Acting for residential developers with site assembly and then onward plot sales
Experience
- Acting for a national ladies wear retailer dealing with property aspects of both the sale of the business and assignment of over 300 leases
- Managing the international portfolio of various UK retailers including the instruction and management of foreign lawyers
- Acting for a national clothes chain in their acquisition of over 80 shops from an administrator within a very short time frame
- Negotiating a new lease of the head office of a high-end ladies wear retailer
- Dealing with the acquisition of an old hospital site for mixed-use development including finance arrangements, site set-up, sales of part to various users from elderly care homes to affordable homes, setting up a management company for the whole site, and retail lettings to mixed users
- Preparing and winning the tender for membership of the joint legal panel of Manchester and Salford Council’s property work
- Purchase of portfolio of properties for a large mineral bagging company (as part of an asset acquisition)
- Purchase of commercial element of iconic building in Deans gate Manchester subject to commercial leases
- Acting for a newly incorporated company of 13 existing tenants purchasing their units as a long leasehold as one entity from Camden Council and then onwards subletting and financing to each individual tenant
- Purchase of portfolio of 53 properties from a mortgagee in possession and then onwards sale by auction
Please note: The experience list above may include examples of work completed prior to joining Keystone Law.
Career
Rima qualified as a solicitor in 1999. Prior to joining Keystone Law in 2014, she worked at the following firms:
- Hill Dickinson
- Halliwells
- Berwin Leighton Paisner