12 September 2025
Contributor: Joanna Rae
12 September 2025
Contributors:
Stephen Trombala, Christina Sinclair
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Our hospitality and leisure group supports clients who own or operate hotels, pubs and restaurants; those in the travel and tourism industry; leisure businesses; gaming companies; and other related businesses. Supporting such a diverse group requires a wide range of legal expertise. Our multi-practice team advises not only on big ticket projects, but also the day-to-day operations of businesses in this constantly evolving sector.
From supporting on the acquisition, financing and construction of a resort, to protection of data and intellectual property, our team is experienced in the nuances of the hospitality and leisure sector. We have expertise in all the key legal areas which affect the hospitality and leisure sector, including:
Land and buildings are a core element of the hospitality and leisure sector. Our market-leading real estate team has a long track record of advising on all aspects of operational real estate in this sector, including advising both landlords and tenants of leased premises, buyers and sellers of operational land and buildings, funders, and developers. The real estate market has undergone a number of changes over the years (and continues to change). With our team’s sector knowledge and experience, we are able to ensure that our clients’ goals are effectively delivered.
We have advised many hospitality and leisure business on various transactions including sales, acquisitions, and sell-and-leaseback deals. These include the sale of Crerar Hotel Group and the GoGlasgow Urban Hotel; the sale and acquisition of the Turnberry Hotel; and the sale and long-finance-leaseback of the Radisson Blu in Argyle Street, Glasgow.
Hospitality and Leisure sector businesses can have an exceptionally wide range of contracts in place. These might cover the supply of goods and services (either with customers, suppliers or other business stakeholders), outsourcing (IT, cleaning and maintenance, customer support and other services), confidentiality agreements and much else besides. By creating well-structured, fit-for purpose contracts we help hospitality and leisure businesses to manage risk, protect value and capitalise on opportunities.
Disputes can arise in relation to many different aspects of the hospitality and leisure sector – sometimes unexpectedly. Our litigation teams have extensive experience across the full range. We primarily focus on avoiding or managing disputes whenever that’s possible. When it’s not, we use our considerable experience of all forms of dispute resolution, including court litigation, debt collection, licencing hearings and appeals, arbitration, mediation, and construction adjudication. Our litigation teams are highly regarded by our clients for their commercial, hands-on support and for taking an experienced and forensic approach to every case.
For owners and developers who are building or extending hospitality and leisure facilities, the construction industry and contracts can be a new challenge. Budgets or risk profiles are often key factors, along with material and labour shortages, rising operational costs, and difficulties obtaining funding. We have considerable specific experience of construction, and we apply it from the start to the end of the project – advising on everything from project team appointments to planning permissions to the (often difficult) management of the construction contract. We also offer strategic and commercial advice to protect against unexpected financial claims and minimise disputes.
This is an increasingly specialised area, and our core team has all the specific expertise required. Acting for both lenders and borrowers, we take a pragmatic and collaborative approach that is focused on ensuring that our clients’ objectives are met, and that the transaction is completed without any avoidable complications or delays. In the hotels and hospitality space, our lawyers have a comprehensive understanding of the operating models across the sector and their unique challenges.
Many valuable business assets are protected by intellectual property laws: your procedures and processes, for example, and in this sector, your brand. The protection, management and commercialisation of these assets is as complex as it is important. The IP experts in our hospitality and leisure team help clients to do that in a variety of ways. We provide practical and commercial advice to ensure that these issues are fully considered, and then dealt with in line with the client’s objectives.
Every hospitality and leisure business holds personal data collected from its customers and other people that it works with. The law requires you to use that data in a way that is fair, lawful, proportionate and accountable – and because so much data is now held in digital form, protecting it can be a big challenge. Adequate operational procedures must be in place at all times. The penalties for failure can be severe, with fines in the tens of millions of pounds. And for those operating in the UK, the overall legal picture has been more complex since Brexit. Our data protection experts support clients across the sector to ensure that they comply with often complex laws surrounding data and its governance.
Business in the sector can ill-afford to ignore the legal and compliance aspects of their operations. That’s especially true for ones that are licensed: what might be a minor staff or admin problem for another business can be a serious legal matter, even a criminal one. We help clients across the sector to minimise the risk of problems arising, and to deal with them if they do. We offer a full service – from strategic advice on compliance, to dealing with regulatory breaches or investigations, to finding ways to resolve disputes (including in the civil or criminal courts if necessary).
People matters can often be particularly challenging for businesses in this sector. We help clients with the full range of HR issues, from business-as-usual employment matters to casual worker compliance, tips policies and tied accommodation arrangements. We are also experienced equality law advisers, and help clients with their legal duties both as employers and as service providers.
In a sector which relies upon migration of talent, we support clients with their immigration needs, advising employers on right to work and sponsor licensing. We have helped clients to secure sponsored Skilled Worker visas for foreign staff in key positions around the sector, and to successfully respond to civil penalty investigations relating to potential illegal working.
Health and safety, environmental issues and food safety are key concerns for many in this sector, as breaches can have serious consequences. We help you to stay on top of your obligations, minimising the risk of failures. We can also provide on-site support if a regulator begins an investigation or enquiry.
The hospitality and leisure sector is one that is particularly exposed to economic highs and lows. Our team includes restructuring lawyers who are sector specialists with particular experience and understanding of the nuances of the sector. Always understanding that these can be stressful and emotional situations, we help our clients to identify the right strategy to support their business through challenging economic times.
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