Burges Salmon has appointed Emma Folkes as the new Head of Rural Property.
A partner in the firm’s Real Estate team since 2017, with specialist expertise in rural and agricultural property, Emma leads on a wide variety of transactions involving rural land, including sales, purchases and leases for institutional investors and high net worth individuals. She also has extensive experience in advising on agricultural tenancy matters and on the wide-ranging issues that arise from the ongoing management of farms and estates.
In addition to this, Emma provides specialist guidance to the firm’s clients on innovative natural capital and sustainable land projects, as part of the firm’s Net Zero strategy, covering areas such as the acquisition of land for conservation, rewilding, and regenerative agriculture projects; habitat creation and restoration; soil health maintenance and enhancement agreements and environmental credit markets.
Emma’s appointment is one in a number of recent moves by Burges Salmon to boost growth for the firm, in line with demand for business. In March this year, the firm appointed ten new partners across key growth areas and in April the firm announced the appointment of thirteen new directors.
Emma Folkes comments: “The firm has ambitious growth plans and I am pleased to be appointed as the Head of Rural Property at such an exciting time. Our Rural Property team has an in-depth understanding of rural and agricultural property transactions, drawn from a range of practice areas, and I’m looking forward to enhancing the core team and working alongside all of the team’s highly experienced lawyers.”
Burges Salmon’s Managing Partner, Roger Bull, says: “Emma is an excellent asset to our market-leading Real Estate team and it’s fantastic to announce her appointment to this prestigious role. Emma has been with the firm since 2007, and has over 15 years’ experience advising on rural property matters, so has a genuine understanding of the ethos of the firm, as well as the types of issues that clients in the sector face on a daily basis.”