On Tuesday 25th May 2021, professionals from across the conveyancing sector came together to celebrate the successes and achievements of the industry at The British Conveyancing Awards 2021.
The inaugural awards took to the virtual stage, and were led by the fabulous award winning broadcaster and journalist Samira Ahmed. If you want a re-cap of the action, the recording is available to view here.
As part of our winner spotlight features, we want to shine a light on those who have been crowned in first place at this year’s event.
Today we profile Lindsey Frith from Ramsdens who won the Outstanding Business Leader of the Year award.
About the award
This award aims to recognise those who have led their business through the most unprecedented period in living history and guided their teams through the challenges of 2021/21 to end the financial year in a better place in terms of people and profitability.
Over the last 12 months, the individual must have demonstrated:
- Outstanding people management
- Innovative and creative culture building
- Clear, honest and fair communication to staff
- Bold and brace steps that have resulted in the growth of the business.
Awarding Lindsey the crown, the judges commended her by saying:
“Customer service is clearly a top priority for Lindsey and that should be the case for all conveyancers! Great entry! Her loyalty and commitment to her firm and team stand out. You can’t fail to be impressed by her achievements as a young solicitor. She clearly managed this very team through the Covid crisis and emerged stronger than before. She shows a flair for people management and business planning beyond the capacity of most pracitioners.”
Angelo Piccirillo from AVRillo LLP was highly commended in this category, with Paul Sams from Dutton Gregory Solicitors awarded third place.
We spoke to Lindsey shortly after she heard the news she’d won the award.
How did you feel winning the Outstanding Business Leader of the Year?
I am absolutely thrilled!
Tell us about your team and the services you provide.
Our conveyancing department comprises 21 conveyancing teams all lead by a solicitor or conveyancer spread across 9 of the 14 Ramsdens offices. We cover all aspects of residential conveyancing and our teams are multi-skilled in the main with specific teams specialising in things like shared ownership and lease extensions for example.
How has your firm developed in the last 14 months and navigated the added complexity of the coronavirus pandemic and SDLT holiday?
A great deal is the short answer! The initial upturn in conveyancing transactions took us by surprise but we immediately cut the amount of work we were taking on in order to ensure that our staff were as comfortable as they could be and the service to the clients remained at a level we were happy with.
Whilst cutting some of the work coming through our doors, we increased our conveyancer headcount through external recruitment and by creating and implementing a new training programme to train our more experienced admin staff. This programme is ongoing and working well.
We also looked hard at how we could free up more time for each of our teams. We fast-tracked our plan to create a post completion department. We recruited externally for this and that team has been invaluable. In addition, we created our own, bespoke client onboarding portal which directly feeds into our case management system. This has afforded a significant administrate time saving for us.
In addition to the above we have dealt with the same COVID changes and challenges as everyone else. I cannot speak highly enough of the Ramsdens team. They have embraced an inordinate amount of change over the last 14 months, worked tirelessly and remained dedicated to both Ramsdens and more importantly our clients. I am immensely proud.
What’s next on the cards for you?
A holiday! Although it may be 2022 it materialises.
What advice would you give someone thinking of joining the conveyancing sector?
If you thrive when under pressure and you are willing to develop your knowledge continuously, then this is the job for you. Value yourself and your time (both in and out of the office). Regardless of how many files you handle or how big your team is, the pressure is always on but if you are organised and motivated, it is a really enjoyable job.
This is the very first British Conveyancing Awards, which recognises the herculean efforts of the industry, why do you think these awards are so important, especially after the last 14 months?
None of us have had much to look forward to over the last 14 months and at times, we have felt isolated either personally, within our family or work units. Few of us have taken a real break. These awards were a lovely pause in the chaos. A chance to stop and take stock of what we have just experienced and to celebrate what we have accomplished on an individual basis, as teams and as an industry as a whole.
Everyone at Today’s Conveyancer congratulates all those who entered this year’s awards.
Join in the conversation #BCAwards2021
