Know Your Healthcare Advisor - Gemma Pouncy
Gemma Pouncy is a Commercial Property Associate in our Healthcare Property team, who primarily advises GP practices and Dental practices.
Gemma can help you with anything related to your property, whether you own your own premises, or occupy under a lease, licence or similar arrangement.
What Does Your Role Involve on a Day to Day Basis?
My role is really varied, so I can be doing quite different things on different days. Typically, my caseload includes a combination of different matters, such as freehold and leasehold acquisitions and disposals, partnership transfers (ensuring that the property arrangements are updated when partners join or leave the partnership), refinancing work, negotiating new leases (both where the GPs are the tenants under the lease, and where they are the landlord - for example, where they have a pharmacy or dental tenant), and sale & leaseback work.
I also have experience of purchasing property through Self Invested Person Property schemes (SIPPs), which can be of particular interest for professionals who are looking for a solid investment vehicle for retirement.
What Do You Do as Part of the Healthcare Team at VWV?
We focus heavily on teamwork and collaboration at VWV, and I work closely with my colleagues across the Healthcare team to ensure that the right expertise is used and we have a joined up approach for each matter and each client. For example, I support the Corporate and Commercial team with the property elements of Dental business sales and acquisitions, and of GP Surgery mergers.
I have carried out numerous Sale and Leaseback transactions over the past couple of years and am familiar both with the Welsh LHB Exemplar Lease, and some of the main investors' standard form leases.
I also have strong links with professionals across the wider Healthcare sector, and regularly meet with bankers, surveyors, valuers and others to share knowledge and experience. I am the Mentoring Co-Ordinator for the South West branch of the Association of Women in Property and attend events through the Women in Healthcare Property Forum, both of which organisations have given me great opportunities to meet other professionals across the Property industry.
Tell Us Something Not Many People Know About You?
I have a wide variety of, apparently unconnected, hobbies. These include knitting and crochet, ballroom dancing and Shotokan karate, in which I have graded to second Dan. I am regularly to be seen on the train to work knitting my latest woolly creation.