CoPSO appoints first independent chairman

The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) has appointed James Sherwood-Rogers to the newly created post of executive chairman.

Sherwood-Rogers was previously non-executive chairman but in order to support COPSO’s ambitious plans for the year ahead, the appointment of an independent, executive chairman was deemed necessary.

The new role replaces the voluntary chairman post with responsibility to raise the profile of CoPSO and its role within the industry, as well as further promote the benefits of the Search Code to both the lending and conveyancing communities.

Sherwood-Rogers said: “CoPSO has an essential role to play in delivering effective conveyancing, by setting standards for all due diligence searches, which are at the heart of any home buying decision.

“COPSO has already done an excellent job in raising standards across the industry, and has recently invested heavily in additional resources to ensure subscribers to the Code are meeting the higher standards required.

“A growing number of lenders already require that their conveyancers only commission due diligence search reports from Search Code subscribers. However, there are still a number of those that have yet to realise the risks of not doing so – something that needs to change in order to properly protect consumers, lenders and, of course, solicitors.”

Mike Ockenden, chief executive of CoPSO, commented: “We are very pleased to have Sherwood-Rogers on board as Executive Chairman.  James brings with him a unique wealth of experience and expertise in conveyancing searches and the wider property market.”