Shoosmiths has recruited a trio of new partners in a shake-up of the leadership of the firm's property and construction teams.

Clarke Willmott partner Paul Knight is joining Shoosmiths' Birmingham base as head of property litigation. He specialises in issues relating to tenure, contracts and covenants for retailers, developers and property investors.

Meanwhile, Wragges director Patrick Garner is also joining in Birmingham as national head of construction, a new role created to stand alongside national head of commercial real estate, Simon Boss, who has until now led the construction team. Garner specialises in infrastructure and environment-related projects.

Elsewhere, Nabarro senior associate Nathan Rees is joining as a partner in Shoosmiths' Reading office. His practice focuses on acting for City real estate, public sector bodies and major corporations.

Boss, who recently took over as national head of real estate at the top 40 firm, commented: "Our overarching strategy is growth. We think it's a good time to push a few buttons within real estate, growing the practice as a whole but with a particular focus on construction and planning.

The hires take partner numbers in real estate to 35, with 14 based in Birmingham, three in Reading and the rest spread across the firm's eight other UK offices.

The news comes as Shoosmiths is consulting on a 93-strong redundancy round in its consumer legal services arm, with the majority based in the Basingstoke volume motor personal injury team. The consultation closes in late July and is intended to refocus the firm away from bulk processing of personal injury work.