Associate – Commercial Real Estate

Stevens & Bolton LLP; Guildford; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Pension

Private medical insurance

Permanent health insurance

Life assurance

Cycle to work

Discounted gym memberships

Profit share / discretionary bonus

Job summary

Stevens & Bolton LLP in Guildford invites an Associate to join its Commercial Real Estate team. The firm is renowned for its expertise in the Southeast and offers a collegiate environment with experienced partners and supportive resources.

The CRE group handles development and investment, supports career development, and offers benefits including a pension, private medical insurance, life assurance and flexible working arrangements.

Qualifications

• Good inter-personal skills and strong academics.
• High-quality experience, typically with a major City or leading practice.
• Ability to work in small or larger teams with minimal supervision.
• Willingness to drive business development is advantageous.

Skills

Inter-personal skills

Strong academics

City/leading practice

Team collaboration

Job description

We are currently looking for an Associate to join our Commercial Real Estate team. You will join a friendly, collegiate team that is widely recognised for its expertise in this area.

The Commercial Real Estate team currently consists of 5 partners and around 14 lawyers. It is regarded as one of the leading real estate practices in the Southeast outside London, and is recommended by the leading independent legal directories. There is SKL and paralegal/trainee support within the team and access to a wide range of valuable on-line resources.

The team handles a broad range of real estate work and is part of a 37 strong real estate group that includes teams dedicated to dispute resolution, construction and environmental. The main areas of CRE expertise are:

• Development
• Investment

Clients include property companies, owner-managed businesses, funds, listed REITs, household name PLCs and other major international groups, and high net worth private clients.

The team has a wide variety of sector experience including industrial and logistics, retail, hospitality and leisure, healthcare and residential development.

Qualifications and Experience

Candidates should have good inter-personal skills, strong academics and high-quality experience – typically with a major City or leading national/regional practice. Team playing skills are important – successful candidates can expect to work with a number of partners within the group, in small and occasionally larger teams, as well as running cases with minimal supervision.

We offer excellent supervision, coaching and training, but we expect all team members to take responsibility at an early stage and to want to be stretched and challenged. An appetite for business development will be a definite advantage.

The Opportunity

• Pensions Scheme (5% employer contribution)
• Private medical insurance
• Permanent health insurance
• Life assurance
• Receive either the sum of £750 per annum as a travel allowance or reimbursement of carparking expenses via a pay as you go card at a local carpark (likely to be Farnham Road carpark)
• Travel – option to apply for an interest free loan for a season ticket or parking permit
• Enhanced maternity/paternity pay (after sufficient service)
• Critical illness insurance
• Cycle to work schemes
• Give as you earn
• Discounted gym memberships and shopping
• Profit share and discretionary bonus schemes

The Firm

Stevens & Bolton – making a positive difference to your career

You’ll work with people who listen, and who actively and willingly support one another within a collaborative and engaging environment. We genuinely care about our people and strive to build and maintain a diverse, inclusive and happy workforce.

We are recognised as a top firm in The Times Best Law Firms 2025, shortlisted for “Law Firm of the Year: The Independents” at The Lawyer Awards 2025 and shortlisted for “Regional/Offshore Team of the Year” at the Legal Business Awards 2025. The Firm was recently named “Law firm of the year” at the 2025 Legal Cheek Awards, was shortlisted for “ESG Initiative of the Year” at the Women, Influence & Power in Law UK 2024 Awards and shortlisted for “UK Law Firm of the Year - Small/Mid-Sized Firm” at the British Legal Awards 2023. Our refurbished office has been awarded a RICS SKA silver certificate and a 2-star Fitwel accreditation.

We’ve made excellence the hallmark of our firm: in the clear advice we give, in the enduring client relationships we build and in our proactive and highly responsive service. We seek to recruit people who will help us maintain and build on this, and in return we offer excellent long-term career and development opportunities.

Diversity & Inclusion

Diversity & Inclusion
We have a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion (D&I). This drives a strategy which focuses on constant promotion of an inclusive culture that encourages everyone to realise their full potential and be themselves at work. Previously we have been shortlisted for “Best D&I Initiative” at The HR Awards and for “Best Talent and Inclusion Initiative” at The Lawyer Awards.