Solicitors Property Centre loses thousands on HIPs

A ‘disastrous’ move into Home Information Packs lost the Edinburgh Solicitors’ Property Centre more than £637,000.

This was the amount the ESPC had to write off after investing in MoveMachine, a HIP software firm in its ownership.

Malcolm Cannon, the firm’s new chief executive, spoke of the losses after confirming that the ESPC – which markets 75% of properties sold in Edinburgh and the Lothians – has been in the red for four years.

Its first loss, of £324,000, was in 2006.

Company accounts which will reveal the latest losses should have been filed in February but are being delayed pending a £1.5m financing deal with Bank of Scotland.

Cannon took over at the helm of the firm last year after his predecessor Ron Smith was ousted by members: there are 1999 estate agents/solicitors, who pay an annual subscription. The firm has slashed staff numbers from 160 to 50.

Cannon told ‘The Scotsman’ that the firm, which he plans to restructure, had made “strange investments in strange areas of business” but that no one could have foreseen the plunge in the property market.

However, he said of the move into England that it had made no sense for a membership organisation based in Edinburgh.

Solicitors property centres are unique in Scotland where there are nine of them, mostly with commanding market share. The Aberdeen SPC has 95% market share, for example. The ESPC has been going for nearly 40 years.

MoveMachine remains in business, offering both HIPs and the Scottish equivalent, Home Reports. It is an affiliate member of AHIPP.