Can you tell us a bit about your background, and your role at My Home Move?
I joined the business 18 years ago as a (fresher faced) trainee – having had no legal background, but experience in customer service and hospitality management. I qualified as Licensed Conveyancer through MyHomeMove’s in house qualification scheme, and was later given responsibility for managing teams across our Leicester & Northampton offices.
In 2015 I made the journey ‘up north’ to run our Manchester site, which now houses 120 conveyancers across 11 legal teams including specialist departments in New Build & Re-Mortgage. There is a great mix of technical experience, with 20% of our conveyancers working from home (although now increased to c80% due to recent restrictions).
In January 2020, as part of the creation of Simplify and the bringing together of other law firms within one group, I also took responsibility for overseeing the conveyancing teams in the Southport office of DC Law, which houses 100+ conveyancers over 11 conveyancing teams.
How’s business at the moment?
Busy! After such an uncertain period it’s fantastic to see new work volumes really picking up, and helping support clients moving house again. Like most firms we furloughed staff recently, but are now in a position where 95% of our conveyancers have returned. Creating safe site working environments for those that need it has taken time, but it’s great to see some people back in our offices (even if they are ‘keeping their distance’). As a business we’ve delivered year on year growth consistently, which provides great opportunities for our people to develop. Despite recent challenges it’s great to be looking forward now and excited about how we can do that this year, with the recruitment of strong customer service focused people very much part of that strategy.
What’s the best part of your job?
It’s a cliché, but….the people. I feel very fortunate to work with such a great group who care about their clients, and their working family. There is no greater satisfaction than supporting someone in their development, seeing them gain multiple promotions and taking more responsibility in a new role. I have a lot of ‘proud Dad moments’!
It isn’t just about work colleagues; I think anyone in conveyancing is privileged to be part of such a life-changing event in a persons life. Moving house can be emotional for clients in many ways, but helping support people through that is very gratifying and rewarding.
If you hadn’t been in the property world, what would you have done?
The dream of a professional footballer probably wasn’t ever a reality, but certainly something where you could have a positive impact on people’s lives by delivering great service. What I love about conveyancing is also how ripe it is for change, the opportunity to ‘do things better’, embrace new technological solutions to enhance the customer experience. There aren’t many industries as exciting right now!
As we come out of lockdown and into the ‘new normal’, what’s main challenge for you at My Home Move?
We must use this experience to improve, as individuals and as a business. We’re fortunate that we already have many years experience in home working, and have an infrastructure which supports that – we’re planning for that to be a bigger part of our business in future. As that happens we will need to embrace more remote learning & training, use technology to keep in touch and support our people, as well as ensuring we have a safe and secure environment for those that work on our site. Achieving that whilst recruiting good quality people, delivering growth across the business and providing opportunities for our people, will be an exciting challenge for us to embrace.
What opportunities can you see?
As a technology led business, I can only see the desire for clients to ‘do more online’ increasing. Businesses that support that will see good opportunities.
I expect there to be a spike of ‘frustrated activity’ in the housing market in coming months – it remains to be seen whether that will be consistent – but those who invest for the future and take care of their people I believe will come out strongest.
There has been plenty of industry collaboration recently – I see there being a good opportunity for us to work closer with stakeholders in the house moving process to enhance the client journey collectively.
What’s the feeling from those looking to buy or sell a property?
Mood has changed since 13th May! Those clients who took a ‘wait and see’ approach are now keen to get moved asap. Whilst the house viewing process may now be different, in our experience new instructions have shown there is plenty of pent up demand. Clients who did want to move still have the same motivation to do so. At this stage we have seen little impact of any economic concerns from clients restricting their desire or ability to proceed.
How have you found the past few weeks?
Busy and exciting! We’ve been preparing, and have re-opened, our Southport & Manchester offices. This has enabled us to unfurlough more staff and support their development with on site training (in a socially distanced environment). Our planning and re-forecasting has highlighted the need for more great people to join our businesses, so we’ve been busy managing capacity and setting out plans for recruitment. It’s exciting to be a in a position where we can look to be growing the business again.
What are you now doing that you couldn’t when we were in full lockdown?
Going to the office is the most fundamental difference. Understandably there were limited house moves during lockdown, so being able to get back to supporting clients moving house feels great.
During the pandemic, have you managed to find some positives?
The collaborative spirit across the business to do different roles or support one another has been inspiring to witness. I’d also suggest conveyancing firms have been more understanding and willing to work together – something I’d encourage us all to do in future too.
I’m incredibly proud of the resilience shown by the people that have remained in our business, and also of the positivity and energy of those who have returned from furlough.
What have you missed about being in an office environment?
Being around people. The simple things like having a chat at the coffee machine, or a passing conversation. Being able to quickly ask for advice or a second opinion on something (and probably annoying that person by interrupting them!) – we take a lot for granted about the benefits of an office environment. One of my highlights was always our quarterly reviews where we would recognise individuals for some great achievements, and share a few drinks with everyone afterwards. How we replicate that in the ‘new world’ is something we’re working on….
Looking longer term, what do you think the biggest change will be to working life?
I can see remote working, learning and supervision will become more common. Meetings will be held more on video conferencing platforms with less travel. There will still be a need (and desire) for face to face conversations and office working, but the hybrid of office/site will become more common. Being able to manage and support people in remote environments will require an extra level of skill and judgement, which our managers and leaders will need be adept at. I’d personally like to think we can support a better balance of home and work life for everyone.
When you are comfortable to, what is the first restaurant you’ll visit?
There’s too many nice ones to chose from in Manchester! As I live out in the Peak District though I’ll probably say The Sycamore Inn, in Birch Vale, with my wife and kids for a Sunday lunch. No better way to prepare for a Monday morning at work!
