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Alasdair, pictured below, has been on secondment in the role since February 2020 and will now resume full duties in the position, which has been newly created following a restructure at CGMA.
CGMA is the statutory corporation that runs New Covent Garden Market, the UK’s largest fresh produce market, and reports to Defra. General Counsel is a new role at CGMA, which has not previously had an in-house legal function.
David Frankish, CGMA Executive Chair says: "We are delighted to welcome Alasdair to his new role at CGMA. The wealth of legal experience that Alasdair brings to the company will be invaluable over the coming months and years, as we continue with our exciting multi-million pound redevelopment of New Covent Garden Market."
As General Counsel, Alasdair will be responsible for all legal and governance-related issues as well as liaison with Defra as CGMA’s sponsoring department. In addition, the role takes on the statutory function of Secretary of the Authority, and Alasdair will accordingly be sitting on the market’s statutory committees.
Alasdair joins CGMA from global business law firm DLA Piper, and has 13 years’ practice as a real estate litigator. During that time he advised on a wide range of contentious issues, including landlord and tenant disputes, development related issues, service charge disputes, property-related insolvency, negligence and fraud, as well as public law challenges.
Speaking of his new role, Alasdair says: “The next few years in the redevelopment of New Covent Garden Market are vitally important to the long term future of what is a real British institution and which, after hundreds of years, continues to play a vital role in supplying the south of England with fresh horticultural produce. I am excited to play my part in delivering this redevelopment so that it works for both the market’s tenants and users alike, and in helping tackle the serious issues faced by all tenants and the CGMA in light of the current pandemic and Brexit.”
CGMA is transforming the site into a market for the future and redefining the role a wholesale hub in a capital’s city centre. Alasdair’s new role will be crucial to this long-term project, which is set to deliver brand new, modern market buildings and facilities in Nine Elms for the 175 businesses it currently houses, as well as creating a new Food Quarter for London.
