In recent days our growing, talented team of lawyers and support staff at Shoosmiths Edinburgh has become the first tenant to move into prestigious new office space within the imposing Haymarket Edinburgh development.

An innovative working space, it’s ideally located in the heart of what is set to be a thriving new Haymarket business community. Designed to a high environmental specification, it aligns with our Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) values.

Like many professional services firms in this post-pandemic era, our culture firmly embraces agile and flexible working, wedded with clever back-office operations and inter-office collaboration. Collectively, it ensures colleagues can work effectively, while clients receive timely and impactful legal advice. Consequently, our new home will be a welcoming space that for clients and staff alike encourages collaboration and socialisation.

Alison Gilson is head of the Edinburgh office and head of Shoosmiths’ Corporate team in Scotland

Of course, our new Edinburgh office also reflects a broader strategic aim. It underlines Shoosmiths’ further consolidation of our operations in Scotland and our intent to capitalise on the opportunities we envisage for our commercial practice in the months and years to come. We remain resolutely focused on achieving excellence in the provision of all of our legal services.

From Haymarket Edinburgh, my corporate team will continue to service the evolving corporate deals market, advising on a range of complex national and international transactions. The post-pandemic world presents even more opportunities for us to reach beyond our local market.

Indeed, over the last couple of years my team has advised UK-based clients on transactions involving US, European and Middle Eastern interests. Notably, our current pipeline indicates a continued enthusiasm for international investment into Scotland and the wider UK.

As we settle in at Haymarket Edinburgh, its opening invites consideration of the real estate sector both in Edinburgh and beyond. Given the impact of hybrid working on occupancy levels, we anticipate many businesses will be reviewing their real estate portfolios and considering how best to utilise office space in the future.

Yet the real estate market in Edinburgh remains buoyant. Undoubtedly there continues to be a desire to secure office space of the standard of the Haymarket development, designed to meet the needs of the modern world.

Indeed, in my opinion the Haymarket Edinburgh site is a great example of vibrant, mixed-use development - 350,000 square feet of office space complemented by new retail and leisure units and a 362-bed hotel - all situated around a new public square and in close proximity to key transportation.

Sustainability is an important factor in businesses’ decision making and the take-up of the available space at Haymarket, in particular the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) ‘excellent’ ranked office space, shows a real appetite for such developments. Potentially, we can expect to see planning departments continue to encourage developments such as this, positively transforming vacant sites and disused buildings.

Certainly, in Edinburgh city centre repurposing is already evident, with hotels and cafe society filling the vacant premises left by retailers moving in increasing numbers to the landmark Edinburgh St James development. That site now also incorporates recently launched high-end residential units. There may be confidence that student accommodation and the provision of multi-tenure housing will always remain a priority for the city.

Notwithstanding political and economic challenges, I believe the Edinburgh business community and professional services sector will continue to thrive. However, I suspect few would challenge my view that businesses and professional firms need to continually adapt as the transition to Scotland’s new way of working continues apace.

So I’m excited to see our teams relocate to the transformed site that is now Haymarket Edinburgh. Like many businesses, we are embracing change and focusing on the needs of our people and clients. I am certain businesses with a similar progressive outlook will discover that there are even more opportunities to thrive, both in their local markets and internationally.

Alison Gilson is head of the Edinburgh office and head of Shoosmiths’ Corporate team in Scotland

Shoosmith's prestigious new office underlines commitment to focusing on clients’ needs - Alison GIlson