Linklaters has advised 334 Ramsbury Oxford Limited, landlord of ‘The M Building’, which is situated in London’s West End, on accountancy and business advisory firm, BDO, committing to a long-term lease for 220,000 sq ft of the building. This will be used as BDO’s new UK headquarters, marking the largest leasing transaction in the West End this year to date.

The M Building is the former Debenhams store on Oxford Street which is undergoing a major redevelopment and will be known in future as ‘The M Building’. It is targeting an ‘Outstanding’ BREEAM rating for sustainability, which will place it in the top 1% of commercial buildings in the UK, and an EPC ‘A’ rating for energy performance. This development is a cornerstone of the Oxford Street regeneration programme, which will see new best-in-class office space, enhanced public realm, wider footways and new retailers transform the area.

The agreement for the lease was exchanged on 17 July 2024, and BDO are planning to relocate to the building in Autumn 2027, once redevelopment works have completed.

The Linklaters team was led by partners Patrick Plant, Andy Bruce and Rhian Parker, alongside managing associates Beatrice Taylor, Hannah O’Malley, Rory Bennett and Alexander Gandhi and associates Alexandra Davies, Lucinda Manning and Thomas Parish.

Linklaters’ real estate team advises leading global investors, developers, occupiers and financial institutions with major space requirements on their largest and most complex or multi-jurisdictional real estate transactions and disputes.

The global real estate group includes specialists in real estate M&A, real estate investment and development, real estate finance and tax, real estate funds, derivatives and structured finance and real estate disputes, environment and planning/zoning.