News In Focus
26 June 2009
GSPC chairman calls for merger with ESPC
Michael Samuel, chairman of the Glasgow Solicitors Property Centre (GSPC), has proposed a merger between his company and its Edinburgh counterpart ESPC, to help both organisations fight the slump in property sales.
Mr Samuel proposes that the organisations, the two largest solicitors' property centres in Scotland, should retain their brands but combine administrative functions. He said the move was "the only way forward" for the organisations as they struggle to cope with reductions in their income.
"It is a huge step, but I think it is the only way forward,” he said. “Both companies will be weakened considerably by this downturn, and we have to try something radical."
Ron Smith, chief executive of the ESPC, said that although no formal proposals were in place, discussions had already taken place about how the two bodies could work more closely to combat the poor market conditions.
ESPC recently asked its member legal firms for a cash injection, a move which was resisted by the Edinburgh Conveyancers Forum unless management changes took place in the organisation.