Hospitality & Leisure

Importantly, we provide a full service offering to clients, underpinned by our understanding of the key risks and commercial imperatives of these sectors:

Property
Our property team manages property portfolios for numerous hotels and restaurant groups and regularly advise on pre-let agreements, fit outs (including complex fit outs), dilapidations, lease renewal, and underleases/assignments.

Technology
We regularly undertake work for clients on data handling, online delivery services, online technical facilities and services arrangements. The team has experience in advising several restaurant groups and travel agencies on their outsourcing arrangements.

IP
We have particular experience advising on the protection and exploitation of intellectual property rights, having been retained over the years by several of the most proactive and forward-thinking global brands when it comes to branding, licensing and franchise arrangements.

Commercial
We carry out a range of commercial work for hospitality clients.

Corporate
We have a strong reputation for advising hotel and leisure companies of all sizes seeking investment for their business – whether that be from a seed or venture capital fund, an angel investor or a family office looking to invest in a growing company.

Company Secretarial
As part of our wider Corporate Practice, our dedicated Company Secretarial Team provides professional and efficient services to our clients, relieving directors of the burden of these tasks by providing the full range of company secretarial services.

Employment
We advise well-known hotel groups on the full range of employment issues, from day-to-day employment issues, employee disputes through to appointment deals and exit deals for senior management staff.

Disputes
We regularly handle disputes for well-known hotel and leisure clients. Where necessary, we efficiently take decisive legal action, to protect our clients’ legal rights, interests, assets, and information via litigation. Our approach is always grounded in the commercial and other objectives of our clients.

Reputation Management
We have unrivalled experience in handling legal issues faced by leading individuals and global brands in the hospitality sector within the media spotlight including pre-publication or broadcast advice on threats to publish inaccurate or damaging allegations and helping companies who are resisting unwarranted attacks on their reputation.

Data Protection
We advise on all the key privacy and data protection compliance areas such as compliance programmes and documentation, international data transfer issues, data breaches and individual data requests. We have a significant reputation for helping clients with complex privacy and data protection issues. Our data protection team also stands out because of the unique synthesis between our data protection and reputation and information practices, and our strength in both non-contentious as well as contentious data protection matters particularly where there are reputation issues at stake.

Gordon Ramsay Restaurants Limited
We advised long-standing client Gordon Ramsay Restaurants Limited on the joint venture of Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant business with private equity firm, Lion Capital LLP. The joint venture will use the investment to build multiple new restaurants with Gordon Ramsay brands across the U.S.. Although we had acted for Gordon Ramsay personally on discrete matters, we were asked to assist with this transformative deal for his restaurant business, given our significant experience in acting for entrepreneurs receiving private equity finance.

We have also acted on the acquisition of restaurant premises at various sites around London and beyond, including at the O2 Arena (London), Upper Street (Islington, London), Cowcross Street (Farringdon, London) and Battersea Power Station (London), together with further sites in Manchester, Liverpool and Reading.

Kindred Concepts Limited
We have advised Kindred Concepts Limited, founded by long-standing client Adam Breeden, on the planning, launch and continuing operation of F1 Arcade,  a new immersive social entertainment venue concept incorporating F1 racing simulators.  Adam is also the co-founder of successful entertainment venues Puttshack, Flight Club and Bounce.

The Sports and Interactive Entertainment teams advised Kindred on all commercial aspects of the complex global deals with Formula 1, games developer Studio 397 and simulator supplier, Vesaro and continues to advise on commercial agreements. The corporate team advised on all aspects of their pre-seed investment from, among others, entertainment industry investor Imbiba and more recently their £30m fundraising round led by Liberty Media Corporation. Our employment team has also provided support on employment contracts for the management team.

Eventim Live International GmbH
We advised Eventim Live International GmbH, the German ticketing and live entertainment group, on a joint venture with Ingrid Sutej for the organisation, production and promotion of live events. We have provided Eventim with advice in a number of areas due to our transactional experience and understanding of the key commercial drivers in the live sector.

Arch Light Cinemas Limited
The Group continues to act for an independent cinema company in connection with the acquisition of premises for a new luxury, state-of-the art cinema in the prestigious Battersea Power Station development in the Turbine Hall. This follows their previous work for the same company to open cinema screens in the arches at Battersea Power Station.

LW Theatres
We acted for LW Theatres in connection with their letting of restaurant premises in the Theatre Royal Drury Lane to Jamie Oliver, which will be his first restaurant to open in the UK in over 4 years.

• Harbottle & Lewis advises F1 Arcade on £30M fundraising round