Pinsent Masons guides University of Manchester's PBSA project. 14 August 2026 Tl;dr. * - Pinsent Masons has provided legal advice to The University of Manchester on its largest student accommodation project yet, enhancing its Fallowfield campus. * - The redevelopment will deliver around 3,330 modern bedrooms, addressing the increasing demand for high-quality student accommodation in Manchester. Multinational law firm Pinsent Masons has successfully advised The University of Manchester on a significant redevelopment project, marking the largest student accommodation design, build, finance and operate (DBFO) initiative ever undertaken by a UK university. This major redevelopment reflects the university's commitment to offering high-quality housing for its students, aiming to create modern, sustainable living spaces where students can thrive academically and socially. Barra Mac Ruairí, Chief Property Officer at The University of Manchester, expressed, "This redevelopment will enable us to provide modern, high-quality accommodation that supports the needs of current and future students, while creating sustainable, welcoming places where students can live, study and socialise." The project will revamp parts of the university's Fallowfield campus, including Owens Park, Oak House, and Woolton Hall, delivering approximately 3,330 contemporary student bedrooms as part of a significant regeneration programme. The role of Pinsent Masons. Pinsent Masons delivered a comprehensive suite of legal services to the university, covering a range of areas such as property, planning, construction, projects, finance, and corporate matters. This included strategic guidance relating to the university's equity stake in the project special purpose vehicle. Chris Owens, Partner at Pinsent Masons, highlighted the pressing need for modern and affordable student accommodation in Manchester, stating, "We are delighted to have worked with the University on a project that will help meet that demand. As the largest student accommodation DBFO project ever undertaken by a UK university, it represents a major milestone for both the University and the wider higher education sector." Team and expertise. The Pinsent Masons team responsible for this project was led by partners Victoria Goddard and Chris Owens, with support from Pav Bhullar, Francesca Knight, Louise Blair, Stuart Barr, James McDonald, Alison Groat, and Gillian Frew. Victoria Goddard noted, "This project shows how universities can work with private sector partners to deliver large scale accommodation developments while continuing to focus their resources on their core academic and research priorities." Given the current challenges in the higher education sector, the model adopted here is likely to inspire more institutions to pursue similar collaborative approaches as they look to modernise their estates and enhance the student experience. Industry context and implications. Pinsent Masons has a strong track record in advising universities on student accommodation and campus infrastructure projects, having been recognised as Property Week's Student Accommodation Legal Team of the Year four times in the past six years. This latest development in Manchester not only addresses the acute need for student housing but also exemplifies a strategic partnership model that could become increasingly common in the UK PBSA market as institutions strive to enhance their offerings while managing financial pressures.

Ian Stott takes the helm of Pinsent Masons' financial regulatory consulting venture. Published on 05/08/2026 Stott's arrival is accompanied by a team of senior specialists focused on complex financial regulatory matters. Global law firm Pinsent Masons has appointed Ian Stott to lead its inaugural financial regulatory consulting practice within the legal services delivery arm, Vario. Stott joins the firm from Konexo, a legal consulting service born out of law firm Eversheds Sutherland, where he served as managing director and led the financial regulatory and compliance team. His new position will bolster the firm's offering across a variety of financial services matters including financial regulation, finance and restructuring, contentious regulatory and remediation, insurance, litigation, financial crime, pensions and investment funds. Partner and head of Pinsent Masons Vario Matthew Kay said: "Ian's appointment to lead this new service line is a hugely exciting step for Pinsent Masons. Clients expect us to provide sophisticated, hybrid solutions which combine traditional legal expertise with new ways of delivering better, more strategically aligned outcomes. We can now deploy multi-disciplined teams at scale for complex projects such as high-volume compliance reviews, major remediation exercises or multi-workstream regulatory programmes." Head of the FS contentious regulatory and remediation practice Jonathan Cavill added: "Ian's arrival is a significant addition to our market leading contentious regulatory and remediation offering. His expertise will strengthen our ability to support clients on complex, high stakes matters by combining legal, regulatory and practical delivery capability in a more integrated way. In particular, it will enhance how we help clients respond to regulatory scrutiny, address weaknesses in systems and controls, and deliver major remediation and change programmes." Of his new role Stott commented: "Whether it's fulfilling their duties towards vulnerable customers, combatting fraud or responding to regulators' desire to encourage growth while mitigating risk, UK financial services organisations are grappling with a landscape increasingly characterised by complexity and risk. With Pinsent Masons determined to continue to invest heavily in its city practice, I'm ideally positioned to help clients navigate these challenges." Related firms.

Pinsent Masons hires first financial regulatory consulting head from Eversheds. Ian Stott joins with team in London having built the financial regulatory consulting practice at Konexo, Eversheds' legal services delivery arm 03 August 2026 Pinsent Masons has hired the head of Eversheds Sutherland's financial regulatory consulting practice to build its own offering. Ian Stott has joined Vario, the firm's legal services delivery arm, in London after a decade at Eversheds, where he built the financial regulatory consulting practice into a core group of 15 and held the role of managing director. Pinsents said a team of specialists would join Vario alongside Stott. The firm did not confirm the number, but described them as "senior practitioners with considerable time in the industry who lead on matters, support clients on complex regulatory challenges and help deliver innovative, commercially focused solutions". At Vario, Stott's new service line is expected to help clients navigate growing compliance scrutiny and anti-financial crime oversight, with its remit including addressing weaknesses in businesses' systems and controls, governance frameworks and delivery of remediation and change programmes. Advertisement Stott's hire plays into two key areas where Pinsents is aiming to grow, namely work for City clients and alternative legal services. Jenny Grotepass, head of growth at Vario, said the firm saw "a real opportunity to complement our existing financial services regulatory legal offering; our new consulting and advisory service will provide clients with practical support on embedding compliance throughout their organisations". She added Stott's hire gave the firm "essentially a full-service offering for financial services organisations facing ever-increasing scrutiny, both from regulators and the customers they serve". David Saunders, head of Eversheds' Konexo, commented: "We wish him well in his new role at Vario." LAW OVER BORDERS COMPARATIVE GUIDES Arbitration Law Guide The Law Over Borders Comparative Guide to Arbitration provides a comprehensive understanding of the current complexities of international arbitration... | 1yr. Stott told GLP that a core element of the practice he built at Eversheds was a resourcing business that allowed it to expand and contract rapidly depending on client need, with more than 500 independent consultants at times working on a project. "That model works very well, so we're expecting to build something similar at Pinsents," Stott said. He added: "There's increasing demand from clients to work with like-minded people who have done this before. There are very few people who have the experience to stand up a programme that involves millions of pounds, and there's a high level of reputational risk carried by the client as well in who they choose as a partner. Having done it before is a big medal on the lapel and generally gives clients a much higher degree of confidence." Stott's arrival continues a run of senior hires at Vario, which GLP understands has been an area of high growth for the firm. Grotepass joined last November from A&O Shearman's Peerpoint as head of growth, while earlier in 2025 James Lewindon joined from Flex Legal to become head of UK and Ireland for flexible services. Ben Williams, former head of KPMG Law's global legal solutions division, also joined to lead the client consulting team.