A Coffee With… Simon Shires

Job title: Commercial Property Solicitor

Which person has inspired you the most in your life, and why? Tom Briggs, an old family friend, who having lost his family business in the 1930’s depression, achieved the rank of captain in British army and won the Military Cross in WW2, was a POW (and escaped), who became a solicitor after WW2, and who devoted a great deal of his time in helping me and my family during my teenage years, following the death of my father, and before I became a solicitor.

He was a philanthropist and the very essence of a gentleman – whose mantra was “you catch more flies with sugar than you do with vinegar”.

Simon Shires, commercial property solicitor at Holden Smith

What is your proudest career achievement to date?  While I have represented a number of clients in multi-million pound property transactions, one particular matter of a much lesser value stands out.

I acted for a client who wanted a landlord’s consent to develop the rear of a mixed-use type property for the purpose of constructing a residential dwelling. The landlord asked for £40,000.00 as a condition of giving consent. I advised the client to make an application to buy the freehold reversion under the LRA 1967 – and I subsequently made an application to the first- tier property tribunal – and argued successfully that a ground floor retail unit and first floor flat qualified as a “dwelling” for the purpose of the LRA 1967.

As a consequence the freehold was purchased for £400.00 – being 1% of the original amount demanded by the landlord.

What time of day do you like to drink your coffee (or tea)? Two cups of builder’s strength tea first thing in the morning.

What’s your favourite snack to have with your coffee or tea? Several slices of toasted brown bread, generously covered with a plant-based spread plus marmalade or jam.

Milk and sugar?  Plant-based milk and no sugar in tea. Nothing is to be added to a black coffee.

Which famous person would you most like to have a coffee with, and why? Nikola Tesla – genius inventor (speaker of 8 languages) – it would be wonderful to gain a layman’s understanding of all his ideas which could have led to forms of energy inventions that might well have changed the world.

How do you relax away from work? Watching games of cricket and doing general DIY tasks, of which there are many!