Lawyers to the Leisure, Food & Drink Industry
It stands to reason that specialists, in whatever the field, provide greater end results than generalists. No more so than in the legal profession, when it comes to the leisure sector.
Kitsons are leading lawyers to the Leisure, Food and Drink Industry spearheaded by a renowned licensing team that gives specialist food, drink, entertainment and gambling advice to a broad range of industry clients.
The licensing team is just part of Kitsons' leisure and tourism practice which has helped Kitsons develop over 180 years from its core leisure market in Torquay into a full service law firm with four offices across the South West. Kitsons gives sensible commercial advice and litigation expertise to a wide variety of food and drink operators, venue owners and entertainment, gambling and accommodation providers.
In the hotel trade we advise clients large and small including chains such as Shearings Holidays and the Duchy Hotel Group right across the spectrum to privately owned 'boutique' hotels, bed and breakfast providers and guest houses. Geographically we represent clients throughout the South west region and farther afield, recently providing company law advice to a Caribbean based hotel owner.
In the pub sector we advise successful operators such as Buccaneer Holdings, Venture Inns, Cross Hotels Limited and Dartmoor Brewery advising them on a full range of commercial matters such as trade finance, licensing issues, employment law, supplier contracts and beer ties as well as handling the sale and purchase of individual outlets and pub chains. Notable clients have included Allied, Carlsberg, Tetley and Tolchards for whom we completed numerous transactions throughout the South West.
We get to know our key clients' businesses and we look closely at their commercial contracts to ensure terms and conditions, trade finance arrangement and supply contracts protect our clients' interests every step of the way. In important areas such as franchising, we have the experience and expertise to set up and negotiate franchise systems commonly acting for franchsiors (although also acting regularly for franchisees)...
Kitsons are extremely active in the business transfer market enjoying a reputation for getting deals done and having excellent relations with key agents, brokers and lenders. We advise on everything from a small restaurant lease or a first-time publican's license application right through to a major hotel acquisition. We have recently acted on the sale of The Belgrave Hotel to Whitbread plc.
Commercial property underpins the leisure market. Our team of partners and consultants advise clients on their acquisitions and disposals, commercial leasing and landlord/tenant issues. Our recent experience includes acting for an investor landlord in consolidating and rationalising numerous tenancy arrangements in Torbay's oldest market hall and granting options and variations on a recent £3m hotel disposal. Many of our clients hold significant property portfolios and we are retained to act as general advisors provide legal services and transactional experience in respect of the operation and development of those portfolios.
Our corporate unit guides leisure clients through M&A deals, corporate governance and equity investments. Finance and investment are crucial and our specialist, familiar with institutional lending and public sector funding, provides banking & finance advice drawing on experience of having acted on numerous leisure sector deals such as the acquisition funding of a high profile West Country Golf Hotel and Country Club.
The leisure industry is labour intensive employing 190,000 people (or 11% of the workforce) in the South West. Our dynamic employment team provides a clear, cost-effective service that is preferred by leisure clients wanting real leisure sector expertise and who find the employment law packages offered by banks and alike lacking in quality.
In the lively leisure sector disputes are common and Kitsons has four specialist litigation partners whose experience covers the whole sector. Our partners are sought after in contested applications, appeals and review hearings and are widely recognised as effective advocates and are experienced in technical trading areas such as, for example, trade loan agreements, beer tie and barrelage agreements, landlord and tenant disputes, lease renewal and franchising. In a recent dispute regarding a national chain of food franchises, we were ultimately instructed to act for all of the franchisees involved in the dispute.
Kitsons has always provided private client services as well as commercial advice therefore many of our major corporate clients are also valued personal clients to whom the partners at Kitsons provide trusted family advice.
Kitsons wealth of knowledge in the leisure sector, its commercial track record and expertise in contentious matters make us a solid choice for operators throughout the Leisure, Food and Drink industries in the South West.
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