The Spring exhibition season is over – at least the major all-encompassing ones – and what have they taught us? Well, as a business which exhibited our services in both Leeds (MBE) and Manchester (FSE) I can firstly say that the intermediary community feels like a particularly positive force at present and, especially in Manchester, the fact that so many advisers were willing to take time out of their day in order to turn up and engage with their industry, does truly speak volumes.
We’re also a long way down the road from exhibitions which used to be all about who wasn’t exhibiting, rather than who was. The cries of ‘Where’s…insert name of large lender?’ appear to be over because there were certainly more mainstream lenders at each event than perhaps at any time in the last six/seven years. These were events where the comment “It’s full of bridgers”, could not be used. No disrespect to the bridging loan community by the way.
In terms of our sector, conveyancing, and our business as a distributor, it is always heartening to attend such events and be greeted by comments such as, “We use you a lot”, or “Keep up the good work” but perhaps what we are most interested in are those advisers who say, “I don’t advise on conveyancing” or “I tend to leave it up to the client”, or perhaps even worse, “I just tell them to go to their family solicitor”. Thankfully, and certainly over the past few years, these types of comments are few and far between but it can still be surprising to meet some advisers who are not involved in conveyancing.
Again, part of the positive feeling around the industry at present, is the level of increased interest and engagement from the intermediary community in all areas of cross-sales. And certainly if you’ve taken the time to step out of your office and travel to an exhibition then, to a great extent, we are preaching to the converted. Without doubt the number of attendees we witnessed in Manchester showed that intermediaries themselves are not resting on their laurels but actively out there in the market seeking opportunities and partnerships/relationships in order to be able to develop their propositions.
Conveyancing certainly comes into this category and our own registrations often see a very healthy spike post-Expo, often followed by the placing of business within a very short space of time. Perhaps you might not expect me to say this, but it also helps having competitors active within the same space because it does mean that you have to continually up your game and deliver a service and value that sets you apart from the crowd. In that respect the conveyancing distributor marketplace is also a healthy place to be at present.
Overall it has been an incredibly positive couple of months for the market – not just in terms of seeing activity begin to creep up but also in terms of adviser engagement and their ambitions for the future. We talk much about ensuring the cross-sale opportunity is not missed and, I hate to say this, but at times during 2014 I felt this message was again being ignored in terms of a concentration on mortgage business. Now, however, with the year having begun in a rather subdued fashion there appears to be a recalibration and recognition that these are product areas which cannot and should not be ignored. Being active in conveyancing is relatively easy and potentially rewarding and it was pleasing to see so many adviser attendees during the shows in April and May, expressing precisely the same view.
Harpal Singh is managing director of BrokerConveyancing.co.uk