Axiom property lunch hits record attendance

Axiom DWFM held its third face to face property lunch on Wednesday, 15 February 2023 following the pandemic and seven virtual lunches on zoom. In excess of 110 guests attended the School of Philosophy and Economic Science in Mandeville place, Marylebone, a record number for these lunches.

The event was chaired by Jonathan Metliss, the Chairman of Axiom DWFM, and external speakers included Chris Hills, Chief Investment Counsel of Investec, Richard Glover, Head of the Economics Faculty at the School of Philosophy and Economic Science, and Karen Jones, Partner at Shaw Gibbs Insolvency and Advisory. Sarah Sandy (General Real Estate) and Mira Arezina (Property Litigation) of Axiom as well as other Axiom lawyers in the room spoke about the real estate activities of the practice.

In introducing the event and speakers, Jonathan Metliss talked about the complicated times we were living in and highlighted a number of problem areas such as Brexit, COVID, house prices, Inflation, fuel prices, the current spate of strikes, the war in Ukraine, the uncertain domestic political scene, and climate change. All these issues were covered by the speakers.

Chris Hills described the current UK economic outlook within a global context and covered issues such as inflation (with particular focus on the price pressures in food and energy), interest rates and taxation, highlighting the uncertainty in the market. Having said that, he was of the view that the country would more than likely escape a recession and that, notwithstanding all the current problems, his ‘glass’ was at least ‘half full’ and that, within the real estate world, there were potential rewards to be reaped for selective opportunist investors.

Richard Glover agreed that the glass was ‘half full’ and also talked about the uncertainties in the market. He focused on issues such as low growth, public finances, unstable financial systems, and the high inequality in the world. The economy was ‘ultimately all about people who should be living peacefully together and enjoying life’. He described himself as a human economist.

Karen Jones talked about a decline in corporate and personal insolvencies but considered that there were real concerns about the cost of living with paying for food, energy, and fuel, the main areas of concern with more and more people turning to borrowing to pay their bills. She thought that both corporate and personal insolvencies were likely to increase in 2023.

Sarah Sandy talked about Axiom’s growing real estate team and its large number of real estate transactions in both the commercial and residential sectors, including significant banking instructions.

Daniel Gleek, Head of Dispute Resolution at Axiom, on behalf of Mira Arezina, talked about the latest legal developments in the property litigation area such as MEES (Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard), the Biodiversity Net Gain, and the recent Regeneration Bill.

The Chairman, Jonathan Metliss, made some closing remarks promoting a positive line and approach and Daniel Gleek thanked everyone for attending and supporting the firm, as well as all the speakers both external and internal.

It is intended that the next Real Estate lunch will be held in May 2023.

CONTACTS

Jonathan Metliss – Chairman ([email protected])

Pragnesh Modhwadia – Managing Partner ([email protected])

Idnan Liaqat – Head of Real Estate ([email protected])

Mikesh Nandha – Marketing Team ([email protected])