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James Miller has been a partner in the Real Estate team since 2004, having joined CMS in 1997.

James has been a core member of the Hotels Travel & Leisure sector group for 25 years and has been involved with many of the major portfolio sale and manage-backs and sale and lease-backs. He is a regular speaker on the hotels sector's conference circuit in EMEA and has a particular expertise in hotel leases (such as hybrid/’Man-‘ leases)  in the UK and elsewhere in Europe. 

James is head of the CMS Real Estate Long Income and Annuity Sector Group with over 15 years’ of experience acting for and advising pension/annuity funds and insurance companies on ground leases and income-strips across a variety of asset classes/sectors: hotels, health clubs, theme parks, hospitals, campus PBSA and facilities, social/affordable housing and key worker accommodation.

Relevant experience

  • For M&G, sale and lease-back (on ground leases/hybrid income strips) of a portfolio of 42 Holiday Inn/Hilton branded hotels, a portfolio of 46 David Lloyd Leisure Clubs a portfolio of 39 Bannatyne Leisure Clubs and of Alton Towers/Thorpe Park.
  • The acquisition and development of the Novotel Canary Wharf for Essendi.
  • Project Booster, the global de-merger of Accor into AccorInvest (now Essendi) and Accor Hotel Services and for Essendi the sale (with LandSec) of 18 hotels to Ares.
  • For Covivio the regear of a portfolio of 12 hotels with IHG.
  • For private investors, site acquisition, development, hotel agreements, ground lease, forward sale and financing, Holiday Inn/Staybridge Suites Heathrow, and Holiday Inn/Ibis Manchester Airport.
  • Vita Student sale and manage back of portfolios of purpose built student accommodation – 9 with DWS; 3 with Mappletree, 4 with Savills IM.

Education

  • LLB, Bristol.
  • LLM, Fitzwilliam Cambridge.

Insights by James

CMS at IHIF EMEA 2026

23 Mar 2026

CMS at IHIF EMEA 2025

29 Mar 2025

CMS advises Lazari Investments on agreement to acquire Fenwick’s Bond Street store

12 Dec 2022 2 min read

CMS Hospitality Bitesize series: The changing face of rental models

16 Jun 2021
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