Member Article

Lawyer leads the way in hospitality and leisure

A Black Country lawyer is earning himself a reputation as a go-to specialist for food, drink and leisure with the opening last week of a gin bar in Dudley and a healthy fast food outlet in Birmingham.

Gin bar and distillery Dr Eamers is the brainchild of entrepreneur Jordan Lunn and was officially opened at the Waterfront by the Mayor of Dudley, Councillor David Stanley.

Fresh food outlet Salad Box opened its doors on Great Charles Street on Wednesday, with a launch offer giving away 100 free salads. Birmingham’s Salad Box is just their second outlet in the UK, although the parent franchise company has 70 branches across the world. It prides itself on nutritious snacks and meals including salads, wraps and soups.

The openings are just two of the recent transactions for Richard Saxton, a partner in the Commercial Property team at Higgs & Sons.

Others include the opening two weeks’ ago of the religious themed restaurant The Burger Priest in Stafford – with openings in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent and Cambridge to follow, and the opening of The Wanderers Return, a Wolves themed sports bar in Wolverhampton.

Richard said: “A quick succession of news-worthy, commercial property deals for, amongst others, a well-known pub chain and an expanding family hotel chain resulted in similar businesses approaching me directly for legal advice. Before I knew it, I was advising on many, many more deals all with a common theme – food, drink and leisure!

“It was great to see the opening of Salad Box last week. I was very pleased to have acted for the tenant on this letting - even if my eating habits haven’t noticeably improved yet!

“The opening of Dr Eamers new gin bar and distillery on the Waterfront is a brilliant addition to the local area while the rapidly expanding Burger Priest is a great new asset for Stafford. I was delighted to have acted for them both.”

Away from his day job, Richard is celebrating the nine-year anniversary of his popular website The Graped Crusader, ‘dedicated to mainly wine reviews’. His passion for wine has also seen him contributing wine columns to Harpers and The Birmingham Post and writing guest blogs for Majestic Wine as well as regularly presenting corporate wine tastings and offering wine related services.

“It’s been a really exciting time professionally, to be involved in the arrival of so many bespoke and creative outlets in Birmingham and the West Midlands that continue to enhance the region’s reputation as a burgeoning leisure destination.

“But also personally with my Higgs & Sons work dovetailing perfectly with my interest in all things wine and the ongoing success of The Graped Crusader.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sam Taylor .