Training and Innovation at the Heart of a Conveyancing Revolution
Training and Innovation at the Heart of a Conveyancing Revolution
At this year’s Institute of Directors (IoD) awards, the accolade for leadership in corporate responsibility went to Lloyd Davies, Managing Director of Convey Law and Convey365.
The award recognises those Directors able to demonstrate that, through their direct actions and leadership, their business has made a positive impact on the local community, wider society and the environment.
Ten years after establishing Newport-based Convey Law and Convey365 Mr Davies was adding another honour to the growing list of the firm’s achievements, which include the best conveyancing company in England and Wales at the 2014 Times and Sunday Times Estate Agency awards, best large conveyancing provider, the best overall UK conveyancing provider and best direct conveyancer 2014 at the LSF Conveyancing Awards.
What, then, sets you apart from other law firms? The answer, Mr Davies asserts, lies in the way the firm works with its clients.
‘Becoming an alternative business structure allowed us to gain investment’
Reviewing the firm’s role as a conveyancing specialist regulated by the Council for Licenced Conveyancers, Mr Davies said: “We became an alternative business structure which allowed us to gain outward investment in 2013. This followed a rigorous process conducted by the council which helped us formulate the way we run our business.
Eight years ago Convey Law adopted a new way of conveyancing property which Mr Davies refers to as “revolutionary conveyancing”.
Explaining the term he said: “We undertake volume conveyancing work and are in the top 50 conveyancers in the country in terms of the number of transactions we process. What we always try to do is provide a first-class client service which lies at the heart of our operation.
‘We have tailored the way we operate’
“To do this you have to provide a personal service so we have tailored the way we operate. This means we have our conveyancers supported by several backroom teams to help them through the process.
‘The way we look after people has always been important’
“It’s easy to provide staff with too much work, so we measure how much they have so they can perform effectively. To do this we give them the best possible training, which involves employing a trainer to make sure we are deploying training effectively throughout the business.
“Earlier this year we qualified 20 paralegals from our bespoke paralegal course, run in conjunction with the Council for Licensed Conveyancers, and we have qualified eight licensed conveyancers over the last five years.”
‘As we come out of recession, training is critical’
“There is a shortage of qualified conveyancers and paralegals and, as we come out of recession, training is critical.”
To emphasise the point he added: “We have been commissioned by Convey 365 to pull together a paralegal training course, an online function that can be deployed within different legal practices to measure the effectiveness of their staff.
“This means they read the material, look at the course structure and then answer test questions online.”
The word revolutionary occurs again, when he adds: “It is in fact quite revolutionary – something that’s been lacking in the industry. So proper and effective training will play a big part in our world over the coming years and into the future.”
Of this brave new world of legal conveyancing, he said: “We have some catching up to do, especially in the training sector.
“This is why we are developing this paralegal course, which has to do with client service and interaction with legal procedures.”
‘We’re always on the lookout for good new recruits’
“We are always on the lookout for good new recruits who fit in with our ethos. Our training format is taking off and becoming an industry standard as well as the IT systems we employ.”
June 17, 2015