Stephenson Harwood has bulked up its City real estate arm with two lateral hires from Travers Smith and Wragge & Co.

Neil Murray has joined Stephenson Harwood's real estate finance practice after 11 years as head of banking at Travers, where he has spent a total of 25 years.

He specialises in property finance, acquisition finance, securitisation, projects, corporate lending and restructuring.

Meanwhile, Jonathon Wilkes has joined the firm's real estate group after six years at Wragge & Co. He was previously at DLA Piper and Nabarro Nathanson.

Stephenson Harwood real estate head Marcel Haniff said: "Looking to the future, there are a number of good people on the market who have perhaps become available as a result of economic conditions.

"At Stephenson Harwood we take a medium to long-term view of the market and are seeking to take advantage of good people being available now. We will continue to steadily build the real estate practice, which remains a key practice area for the firm."

The news follows the firm's hire of Jayesh Patel from Denton Wilde Sapte in February. Stephenson Harwood now has 40 lawyers in its real estate group, including 13 partners.

The firm also expanded its Paris office with the hire of a five-strong team from Norton Rose earlier this month.