Coadjute announces the formation of Advisory Board
LONDON 26th JANUARY: Coadjute, the blockchain network for the UK property market that aims to enable simpler, smarter, more secure transactions and halve the time it takes to move home, announced it has formed a new committee of trusted advisors.
The Coadjute Advisory Board will be chaired by Dan Salmons, CEO at Coadjute, and includes prominent industry leaders from the property industry and regulated services, whose focus will be to shape and guide the strategy and go-to-market priorities of Coadjute, working closely with the senior leadership team.
The Advisory Board will bring together an unrivalled breadth of expertise and experience from across the property industry. Maria Harris, a Non-Executive Director at United Trust Bank and Rob Hailstone, founder of Bold Legal Group are the first to be appointed, to be followed by further announcements in February.
The property buying process can be slow, complex and costly for both customers and the businesses that serve them, often caused by a lack of connectivity. Coadjute’s blockchain platform is an open network which connects the businesses that take part in property transactions. It enables buyers, sellers and professionals involved in the property process to synchronise events and alerts in real-time, and securely share messages and confidential documents. Uniquely, property businesses can connect to the Coadjute network through their existing systems, making integration easy, and enabling costs reductions, improved resilience and a transformed customer experience. Coadjute’s open network is built on R3’s enterprise blockchain platform, Corda Enterprise.
Dan Salmons, CEO at Coadjute, said:
“I’m delighted to welcome Maria and Rob to the Coadjute Advisory Board. Between them, they bring a wealth of experience in the mortgage and conveyancing industries respectively and share our passion for innovating to connect the property market. Coadjute’s network is set to become a National Grid for the market, and Maria and Rob’s expertise will be invaluable to help us set priorities that best address the needs of the property professionals they know so well.”
Coadjute’s Advisory Board members include:
Maria Harris is the Director of Digital Cat Consultancy Ltd and a Non-Exec Director of United Trust Bank. In her consultancy role, Maria provides digital and fintech expertise to the mortgage industry. Previously the Director of Lending at Atom bank where she designed, built and launched the first fully digital mortgage in the UK. With over 25 years’ experience in management, Maria has held roles across several sectors including travel, utilities and more recently in financial services where she was awarded the inaugural Women in Finance Award for services to banking. She is a vocal advocate for equality, diversity and the role of technology in improving customer experience.
Rob Hailstone, an ex-residential property conveyancer with over 40 years’ experience, formed the Bold Legal Group (BLG) in 2010. The BLG now has approximately 700 member firms of all different shapes and sizes throughout England and Wales (all of which carry out a significant number of residential conveyancing transaction annually) and is widely respected by all stakeholders including legal regulators, lenders, HMLR and the MHCLG. As well as the weekly information bulletins, having a thriving online Q & A forum, and BLGTraining (CPD accredited), BLG members have been given a voice and are kept informed about all relevant conveyancing issues, including (but not limited to) SRA Fraud Alerts, Law Society Practice Notes, HMLR updates, GDPR, the IDD, Dreamvar, VAT on searches/disbursements, Pricing and Transparency, cladding (EWS1), and the Governments current attempt at Improving the Home Buying and Selling Process.
Maria Harris, Non-Exec Director of United Trust Bank, added:
“The mortgage industry has been on the precipice of true digital transformation over the last few years, but we need to take that final leap of faith. Coadjute not only gives us the technology to make this a reality, but it also facilitates the step change in industry culture and mindset, we need to collaborate effectively. I’m so excited about what we’re about to set in motion and the difference it will make to us and our customers.”
Rob Hailstone, CEO at Bold Legal Group, added:
“Various attempts have been made over the last decade or two to really try to improve the way property is bought and sold. Unfortunately, very few of those attempts have made any real headway. Coadjute, with its well thought through uniqueness, could be the fillip that the process needs. I am delighted to have been invited to be part of the Coadjute journey”.
Rob Hailstone, CEO, Bold Legal Group
The announcement follows the recent closure of a multi-million-pound funding round led by Swiss Venture Capital firm, Blockchain Valley Ventures; and with the participation from the leading U.S. venture fund, Collab+Currency, the growth fund focused on financials and tech, Odysseus Investments, the global property fund, Ahimsa-Esya Capital, and by David E. Rutter, founder of enterprise software firm, R3.
Kindly shared by Coadjute
Main article photo courtesy of Pixabay
