CEO Today United Kingdom Awards

111 www.ceotodaymagazine.com CEO Today United Kingdom Awards 2018 TECHNOLOGY SIMON BATH CEO of When You Move FIRM PROFILE When You Move is the UK’s first proptech platform to automate the end- to-end process of UK conveyancing, banishing paper-trails and manual chase-ups from what remains a remarkably offline sector. The pioneering solution provides all partners that are critical to buying and selling a home – from agent and broker to solicitor and end-client – one integrated platform to progress a purchase or sale, significantly speeding up the overall connectivity between all parties driving a transaction through to completion. The desktop and app-based solution is able to facilitate in excess of 1,000 cases, offering real-time updates, document upload and verification functionality, plus real-time case-tracking to progressive industry partners and homebuyers. Previous When You Move research found that one in four conveyancers are out of the office during the most critical periods of a transaction. As a result, there is an average delay of around six weeks in the completion of a transaction. In a quarter of such cases, consumers were not told when their solicitor would be returning to the office. The data showed that almost a third of all home buyers have to take time off work to speed up the process themselves by chasing for updates due to a lack of effective communication between all parties involved in the buying and selling of a home. There is an industry-wide problem surrounding the fact that solicitors often reach full capacity on their workload yet still take on cases. This is intensified by the fact that many of these solicitors are not specialized in practicing property law and therefore further extend the process due to the generalist nature of their experience. Moreover, given the most common time to move house is during the summer months, the crossover of homebuyer and solicitors’ holidays has a detrimental effect on the transactions that fall into the “away gap”. Ultimately, when a solicitor is away, the file is not passed on because it’s analogue and paper. A fully automated system with a forward-facing CRM allows for data to be stored and managed digitally, allowing for the right person to work on it at the right time irrespective of the lead case manager’s presence. With greater demands for transparency in the industry, When You Move has launched the QuickQuote service that eradicates the opaqueness that is shrouding UK conveyancer fees by ensuring all final costs are presented for evaluation at the beginning of the solicitor selection process. When You Move looks forward to embracing further technological advancements to make the lives of hardworking property professionals easier and the service provided to consumers, more streamlined, transparent and efficient. ABOUT SIMON BATH With over ten years’ experience in the legal sector and having set up a property law firm, When You Move’s CEO, Simon Bath experienced first-hand, the frustrations with the conveyancing process. From estate agents, to mortgage brokers, conveyancers and the end-consumer wishing to purchase or sell a home. Simon believes that with the right technology, the current issues facing the housing transaction could be addressed while simultaneously ensuring that the industry, which lags behind many others in the face of digitlaisation, is as future-proof as possible. The lack of infrastructure is reflected in the service provided to consumers. Previous When You Move research has found that around 18 million Brits noted that the legal processing of their transaction was the single most dissatisfying part of buying and selling a home. The process is lengthy and stressful due to the lack of infrastructure in place to support a seamless transition.