Leading law firm Thrings has acted for St Augustine’s Medical Practice in connection with its relocation to an 8,200 square feet purpose-built premises. The practice moved into the iconic former J.S. Fry & Son’s Somerdale factory in Keynsham – a site best known for producing some of Cadbury’s finest treats.
Opened to the public this year, the surgery sits in the large retirement village at the newly named Chocolate Quarter. The £60 million mixed-use development by St Monica Trust, a Bristol charity founded by the Wills family in 1925, includes restaurants, a cinema, swimming pool and spa.
Meeting the complex’s demand for healthcare services as well as that of a fast-growing local population, the medical practice’s new premises provide larger and more modern facilities including a state-of-the-art minor surgery suite, 12 consultation rooms and more spacious staff facilities.
The practice has over 10,000 patients and has been supported by Bath & North East Somerset Clinical Commissioning Group and NHS England as part of their strategy to strengthen primary care in the region, ensuring its sustainability and resilience into the future.
Leading on the transactional property aspects of the move, including the negotiation of the agreement for lease and subsequent lease documentation, was Commercial Property partner Ben Tarrant, also a member of Thrings’ health and care sector team.
Supporting Ben was Thrings’ Construction associate, Natalia Sokolov, who advised on the building contract and construction warranties provided by the contractors responsible for the design and building of the premises.
Working with St Augustine’s Medical Practice marks Thrings’ continued expansion into the primary care sector in the South West.
Ben said: “I am pleased that Thrings was appointed to deal with this significant primary care development, working alongside some of the key players in the sector and helping St Augustine’s Medical Practice to move into these superbly modern premises which offer state-of-the-art facilities to patients and staff.
“This development really does reflect the future of primary care, allowing the practice to offer more services that better meet the needs of its patients.”
Nick Woodward, senior partner at St Augustine’s, said: “We are delighted with the move to our new purpose-built premises in the Somerdale chocolate factory development site. We feel this is great for our patients and enables our practice to support Keynsham’s ever-growing population.
“We have been planning to relocate for over 10 years in order to provide bigger, more modern facilities that can keep pace with the growing local population and increased demand for health and care services. The government has also been keen to move care closer to patients and our new surgery will allow us to do this. We are also excited by the prospect of closer collaborative working with St Monica’s to develop new resources which can be used by the local population.”
Alongside Thrings, GVA acted for St Augustine’s Medical Practice in relation to securing funding, relocation, lease terms on the new premises and project managing the fit-out of the new surgery.
Beyond commercial property advice, Thrings provides support to GPs on a wide range of matters including federation structures, new models of care and contracts for the delivery of services. Its health and care team spans the firm’s South West, Hampshire and London offices.
