Written by Published

Created: 07 July 2020

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 13^th 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!

Written by Published

Created: 30 June 2020

Rob began his career with the Liverpool Office of Gruber Levinson Franks which became part of BDO Stoy Hayward. Whilst there, he worked with a wide array of SMEs with a particular emphasis on the retail and the legal sectors. Rob joined SB&P in 2003 as an Audit Manager before moving to special projects and corporate finance in 2006. He became a Partner in 2008.  In 2020 Rob was elected President of the Liverpool Society of Chartered Accountants.

Click here for Rob's profile on the SB&P website. 

• Can you tell us a bit about your background, and your role at SB&P?

After leaving university I qualified as a Chartered Accountant and moved to SB&P in 2003, becoming a partner in 2008. My role is to assist and advise a portfolio of clients on how to run their businesses and make more profit in a tax efficient manner. I hate surprises so I try to help them plan to avoid them.

• How’s business at the moment?

It has been a really busy few weeks leading up to and after lockdown. The current crisis has thrown up a tremendous number of diverse financial challenges, that has meant lots of clients have needed an increased degree of support on a number of levels both financial and emotional.

• What’s the best part of your job?

 When a plan comes together and I can see I have helped a client realise their ambitions.

• If you hadn’t been an accountant, what would you have done?

 My original choice of career, having been influenced by CCF at school, was to be an army PT instructor.

• As we come out of lockdown and into the ‘new normal’, what’s main challenge for you at SB&P?

When helping a business to budget and plan you need to make certain assumptions about the future, the considerable amount of uncertainty about what happens next in terms of a second wave or ongoing measures makes this extremely difficult to formulate those assumptions.

• What opportunities can you see? 

I think embracing none office working gives businesses access to a wider pool of talent which will be of real assistance to those businesses that are struggling to recruit. It is also inevitable that some will struggle as government support for business begins to be withdrawn. As a result I can see acquisition opportunities for strong cash rich companies.

• How are your clients feeling about the future?

 It is a real mixture. A number are optimistic and looking to capitalise on opportunities but in other sectors there is a good degree of trepidation. So much depends on the sector and the perception of how their customers will be hit. One of the unintended consequences of the furlough scheme is that many employers have reflected on not having some of their teams available for an extended period, in some cases I do see this leading to job losses.

• How have you found the past few weeks?

It’s been busy, sometimes stressful but also slightly surreal at times. Certainly the first few weeks only leaving the house to exercise once a day did mean it started to be difficult to remember what day it was!

• What are you now doing that you couldn’t when we were in full lockdown?

Getting to actually see people again even if it is largely outdoors.

• During the pandemic, have you managed to find some positives?

My main positive has been finding more time to exercise, I’ve run over 500km and cycled over 2000km and feel more healthy as a result. As a secondary, realising how efficient video meetings can be, I think some of this will remain.

• What have you missed about being in an office environment?

Just having a chat with people, whilst I’ve still regularly spoken to my colleagues they tend to be functional conversations, sometimes its good to just have a conversation about nothing inparticular.

• Looking longer term, what do you think the biggest change will be working life?

I think an element of home working is here to stay. The crisis has forced people to adapt and in the majority of cases, certainly in professional services, it has worked and in some cases people have been more productive. Once this crisis ebbs away I think many will reflect on this and reconsider how much office space they occupy. In turn this will bring its challenges for commercial landlords.

• When you are comfortable to, what is the first restaurant you’ll visit?

Marcello, a small family run local steak restaurant. They are famous for their steaks but I can tell you last time I went there I had the BEST cheesecake I have ever tasted.

Written by Published

Created: 23 June 2020

My mum, Sue Rees, passed away in 2015 and for a couple of years prior she her own blog that covered loads of topics – life, death, friendship, family, kindness as well as lots of other random musings.

During lockdown I’ve revisited her blog, and came across a handful of posts on careers (mum was a She was a career and life coach) published during the 2012 recession that are as relevant now as they were then.

Blog 3 - Tips On Securing The Work You Want

I thought that after the previous blogs around goals etc, it might be helpful to follow them with a couple of related ones.  If you are thinking that a change of career could be on the cards or a more concentrated effort needs to be made to actually find work, then hopefully this blog will be useful.  

Although we are in a recession (more for some than others) at some point things will improve, so you can even keep this to one side for then.

Over the years I have been an employee and self-employed; worked both full and part-time; had jobs I loved and ones I hated.  I have worked for a bank, an investment company, a national charity.  I have been the worst barmaid ever at Yates Wine Lodge in Liverpool (don't ask!).  I've worked as a housekeeper for a multi-millionaire in Wilmslow which was (how can I say this?) surreal, bizarre, interesting, hysterical, scary and sometimes great fun.  It is worthy of a blog in itself - with all the names and dates changed of course!  Oh, and I have also worked as a gardener.  Self-employment included catering which fitted nicely around the family.  However, the thread that has run through all of this is a love of art/design/crafts and the skill that I have used to good effect in most roles is my creativity. And yet, it didn't occur to me when I was starting out that these skills could help me make living and that I should therefore use them, knowingly instead of accidentally. So, bearing the above it mind, here are a few guidelines for you:

Take a fresh look at your strengths

Look clearly at what you do best. When do you get 'lost in the flow'?  In which areas do you shine (and this is no time to be shy!)? Which aspect of your work is/was the most enjoyable? Do a personal SWOT analysis. This refers to your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (or barriers to progress).  Be creative and perhaps get together with someone you know and trust to do this.  They can add another dimension to the progress and show you that your strengths and talents could lead you into areas you hadn't considered before.  Get to know yourself and find out what makes you tick.

Create a job 'think tank'

For this you literally need to go on job hunting exercise.  The objective is to find the types of roles in which you could let your skills and strengths be displayed.  When I originally wrote this, I suggested that libraries and career guidance centres were the best sources for information, but of course now we can add the internet to the list.  See what others are doing, ask how they got the job etc. 

Go ahead and call

Depending on your personality, this might be difficult to do at first but contacting people who are working in the industry and organisations which you are interested in, is a very useful thing to do.  Today, email is used too but if you can talk to the person, even better. Networking is important now and it is through this (and volunteering) that I have secured work as an employee or good contacts for own (small) business.  Do not be deterred if you don't get the response you want in the first instance.  Most people are very helpful, provided you are polite and patient.  Unless you are one of the few exceptionally talented and lucky individuals (wherever they are!) the chances are that no one is going to knock on your door and beg you to work for them ................yet.

Depending on your personal circumstances you could offer to do some work for free in a key organisation, something that can help in your trying to gain qualifications.  It gets harder I know, but worth a try.  You could involve yourself in local community or non-profit making organisations but remember that this is a two-way thing and you must be prepared to contribute in positive ways.  However, if you choose carefully, it is amazing how many contacts you make in this way.  Success by taking this route could be affected by your age, current skills and how secure within their own role, the key person you deal with, is but people buy people so go out and sell yourself!

Be persistent and check your attitude

You may not agree but more than talent, intelligence or skills, determination and persistence are the key factors in making progress.  You can add having a good attitude to the list.  If you believe that the world owes you a living and everyone else is to blame for your situation, whilst this may well be true, such a negative attitude will get you nowhere.  Know what you want, learn all you can, consistently take action and gain the necessary experience.  Put all this together and, whilst there are no guarantees, you will be best placed to find he work you want and live the life you choose.  Good luck!

"There is no such thing as a career path, just crazy paving you have to build yourself"

Written by Published

Created: 11 June 2020

Sean is an expert in estate and succession planning at Gateley PLC.  He acts for high net worth individuals, ultra-high net worth individuals and not-for-profit organisations. He advises on complex, tax-efficient wills, the establishment and administration of high value trusts, estate administration and related matters. Sean acts as a professional Executor and Trustee.

Click here for Sean's profile on the Gateley website. 

• Can you tell us a bit about your background, and your role at Gateley?

I’m a private client lawyer with over 20 years’ experience based in Gateley’s Manchester office.

• What has been the most memorable piece of work you have been involved in?

The administration of a high value estate with assets in multiple jurisdictions, some awkward tax issues and a very nasty piece of litigation in the U.S. Quite a long time ago now but the matter had so many different issues it still stands out.

• If you hadn’t been a lawyer, what would you have done?

General Manager of a 5 star hotel somewhere exotic. Many of the elements of my present role that I enjoy, (managing a team, meeting people and delivering a service with the aim of exceeding high expectations) but in a more luxurious setting!

• How’s business at the moment?

Very, very busy. Certainly not complaining though.

• In the Covid19 era, what is the main challenge in private client?

Normally clients gain a lot from face to face meetings and obviously those haven’t been possible. We have worked around this as best we can but it’s not quite the same. You can’t replicate a handshake digitally.

• What opportunities can you see? 

The situation has prompted clients to really focus on their estate planning. This has generated a lot of work. My expectation is that estate planning will continue to be a priority for more people than it has been in the past even as the present situation calms down.

• How have you found lockdown?

My round trip to the office is over 50 miles a day. I have worked from home on a regular basis for a day a week for a few years now and so I’m used to it but even so, not having to commute to work for 2 months has been a positive benefit. My home office set up is relatively sophisticated though I do need to change the wallpaper.

• How have you kept in touch with colleagues?

I have gone from never having used Microsoft Teams and Zoom to being quite proficient. These packages really help everyone keep in touch and working as a team. Teams makes it much easier to work with the wider private client team nationally.

• What about clients?

In the absence of face to face meetings clients have been communicating through email and mobile phone calls more than ever and that’s worked well.   

• What are the 3 things you miss most from your pre lockdown life?

In no particular order, morning coffee from Pret, a good meal in a restaurant with friends and browsing the shelves in Waterstones.

• What do you think the biggest change will be working life post lockdown?

Regular homeworking and related working practices such as paperless working have been embraced by lot of people who haven’t worked this way before through necessity. I’m sure that there will be permanent change as a result and some element of home working is here to stay for a lot of people.

• What’s the first thing you’ll do when lockdown is lifted?

I haven’t seen my mum since February and so that comes first but if I can stop off at Pret and Waterstones on the way……….

• What restaurant you will visit?

Benihana

Written by Published

Created: 09 June 2020

Nick is a highly respected commercial litigator and cited by the Legal 500 as one of the top lawyers in the North West. As well as being Head of Litigation at Bermans, he also co-founder of the multi-award winning dispute resolution product, Escalate. 

Click here for Nick's profile on the Bermans website. 

• Can you tell us a bit about your background, and your role at Escalate?

I am head of litigation of full-service law firm, Bermans and have been with the firm for 25 + years. My experience over the past 5-10 years demonstrated that the commercial dispute market for SMEs has been fragile for a long time, with high upfront costs, considerable financial risks and a slow process preventing access to justice for claimants. Nobody has tried to fix this problem – until the Escalate team started thinking about potential solutions.  

Escalate was founded by Chris Clay and I.  It was created as a collaborative venture involving accountancy firms, funders and insurers. In this way, we have brought together the dispute ‘supply chain’ into a packaged solution and encouraged everyone to assess the issues in a fresh way. The result was the ground-breaking, multi-award-winning Escalate process by which we now act as lawyer, funder and insurer and provide a full turnkey solution removing all cost and risk for SME’s in resolving disputes and collecting aged debt.

We continue to work closely with our team of partner firms – leading accountants, lawyers, funders and membership bodies – to give over 250,000 SMEs across the UK better access to justice through Escalate.

• How’s business at the moment?

Whilst I am extremely conscious that for many, Covid 19 has been a nightmare and has presented huge challenges, at Escalate we are fortunate that all operations were already set up for remote working with document management platforms and cloud based technology. The packaged offering that Escalate offers too is exactly what SME businesses facing temporary liquidity problems need and we are finding that we are become increasingly busy as businesses tackle their problem accounts and outstanding debtors.

• In the Covid19 era, what are the main challenges you face?

Court delays and communication challenges. Whilst the courts remain open for business and are trying to keep things moving the lack of administrative support is inevitably slowing down the processing of claims. This creates challenges but just means that we need to be even more proactive to remove all avoidable delays that are within our control and that is what we are trying to achieve. As regards communication, whilst we can embrace technologies such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams you cannot beat meeting clients and partners in person. Forging new partner relationships and exploring new markets is also more challenging in a lockdown environment.

• What opportunities can you see? 

Plenty. The Escalate package is unique and as evidenced by the multiple awards that it has won is unparalleled in the commercial litigation market. Pre coronavirus the opportunities were massive, they are now even greater. Our legal and accounting partners too are feeding off the work opportunities that are being created.

What lockdown has done is accelerate people’s use of progressive forms of IT and communication and has opened eyes as to the different and more flexible, balanced and effective ways of working that exist.

• How have you found lockdown?

Pre covid 19 I always felt some remote working was quite liberating and I found that I could be more productive without office distractions. Some team interaction in the office environment is vital though and that has been missed but on the whole I have found lockdown ok as I have been very busy and the team have embraced it too. Undoubtedly, as time goes on other challenges will arise but we will deal with them.

• How have you kept in touch with colleagues?

Zoom and Microsoft Teams calls. I have delivered a few webinars too.

• What about clients?

Again, Zoom and Microsoft Teams calls. I find these more effective than traditional phone calls. There is something more personal about a video call particularly where they are working from home. People seem more relaxed in their own space.

• What do you think the biggest change will be post lockdown?

More flexible working and more effective use of time. Greater adoption and meaningful use of technology to facilitate it and a better balance in life for all as a result.

• When we are able, what restaurant you will visit?

I’m really not sure, I think it will take a while before any restaurant experience will return to any form of ‘normality’.

Written by Published

Created: 04 June 2020

Luke is a Partner based at the Freeths Liverpool office. He specialises in Real Estate and Banking & Finance. Click here for his profile on the Freeths website. 

He is listed as a Recommended Lawyer in the Legal 500 (2020 edition):

"Luke is an excellent lawyer and particularly skilled in his ability to unlock perceived legal roadblocks with intelligent drafting solutions, every client’s dream. He is highly efficient and the legal drafts are more often than not, back with the other side within 24 hours. He is a pleasure to work with and has a firm but polite approach when dealing with his opposite number, exactly how business should be undertaken."

• Can you tell us a bit about your background, and your role at Freeths?

I trained with DWF in Liverpool between 2005 and 2007, then went through the ranks from solicitor to partner between 2007 and 2018.  I started at Freeths in April 2018, alongside Andy Nichol, our brief was to establish and grow a Liverpool office for the firm.  As at March 2020 we had grown to a team of 10 and added employment, construction, corporate and sports lawyers to the team, as well as growing the real estate team to 6.

• What has been the most memorable piece of work you have been involved in?

About 3 or 4 years ago we were tasked with exchanging contracts on the acquisition of 3 shopping centres before Christmas.  The deal value was more than £150m and there was lots of due diligence to co-ordinate in a short space of time.  With time running out I headed down to London to the vendor’s solicitor’s office on the last working day before Christmas with orders not to leave until the deal was done.  After a frantic day of face to face negotiation the deal was finally agreed and signed off just in time to run back to Euston to make the last train back to Liverpool. 

• How’s business at the moment?

Challenging. In the commercial world many clients are focusing on getting their own houses in order and reducing their own outgoings, so we are not seeing the same levels of transactional activity that existed before Covid19.

• In the Covid19 era, what are the main challenges you face?

Keeping in touch with colleagues and clients is the most obvious issue.  The CBD in Liverpool is small and the number of clients and contacts that you meet daily is something that I took for granted until it was gone. 

• What opportunities can you see? 

Technology has played a big part in coping with Covid19.  The use of electronic signatures, virtual meetings, and secure data rooms to transmit documentation has become the new normal.  As a result, those transactions that have continued have tended to complete faster than they might otherwise have done.  The opportunity is there to continue to embrace that technology and use it to serve our clients and colleagues better post-Covid.  I would be disappointed to see a return to quill and ink. 

• How have you found lockdown?             

There have been ups and downs.  Balancing work with home schooling 3 children is not straightforward, but you have to look on the bright side.  2 of my children are very young and most weeks I am out of the house before they are up and back home when they are in bed, so to be able to see them for breakfast, lunch and dinner and take them for a walk or kick a ball in the back garden an opportunity to be cherished. 

• How have you kept in touch with colleagues?

I speak regularly with the real estate team and we have a Liverpool office team call twice a week, the second of which has more recently become a video call that tends to involve a quiz.  There are also regular cross-office calls and the “FreethSpirit” magazine to keep us in touch with one another across the country. 

• What about clients?

Video calls have become very popular, which is at least an incentive to have a shave and throw on a shirt (even if it remains shorts and flip flops below the desk).  Virtual coffees, virtual drinks.  I have probably spoken to clients more in the last few weeks than I would do ordinarily.  I have definitely taken more calls at weekends than ever before, in most cases because people genuinely have forgotten what day of the week it is. 

• What do you think the biggest change will be post lockdown?

I think working from home is here to stay.  It has been far easier to function every day at home than I expected it to be and with some obvious benefits to the business (rental costs), environment (less travel = less pollution) I can envisage the day when most of us are spending a certain percentage of our working week at home. 

• When they reopen, What restaurant you will visit?

Lots of them.  If my parents, in-laws and extended family are to be believed then they are missing my children terribly.  So, as much as I have enjoyed the extra time with my children, there would appear to be several willing babysitters and a few date nights on the horizon.