Simmons & Simmons has announced a double hire to its real estate team in London, with the arrival of Jonathon Wilkes and Ashley Davidson as partners.

Both Jonathon and Ashley join Simmons after more than a decade at Stephenson Harwood, where Jonathon has been head of real estate for ten years, and Ashley a partner since 2021. They have worked together for more than fifteen years, both at Wragge & Co and Stephenson Harwood.

Key clients the duo serve include LondonMetric, Longmead Capital, Tristan Capital Partners, Realty Income, Firethorn Trust and LaSalle Investment Management.

Jonathon and Ashley join Simmons’ existing London real estate team which is comprised of ten partners, led by John Kelsey and includes Ali Crosthwaite, Richard Hopkinson-Woolley, Matthew Hooton and Simon Gardiner.

On welcoming Jonathon and Ashley to the team, John said: “The addition of two new partners is a significant move for us and reflects our ambitious strategy for the Simmons’ real estate business. Jonathon and Ashley’s client base and skillset are complimentary to ours whilst we provide them with an enhanced platform both in the UK and internationally.”

Commenting on joining the firm, Jonathon said: “It is exciting to be joining a firm of the calibre of Simmons & Simmons. Their real estate offering is second to none, underpinned by strong, collaborative teams across the funds, tax, corporate, litigation and banking practices. Their pan-European network is also extremely impressive and provides us with an excellent opportunity to better support our clients.”

Ashley said: “Simmons has a strong track record in innovation and we see their use of technology to deliver efficiently and at scale as a major value-add for our clients. We also think that the “team-fit” is excellent.”