Convey Law named Best Medium Employer at Apprenticeship Awards Cymru 2021

Convey Law has been named Best Medium Employer at the prestigious Apprenticeship Awards Cymru 2021organised by the Welsh Government and the National Training Federation for Wales.

Convey Law, which was founded in 2004 and is now one of the largest specialist conveyancing legal practices in the UK, was recognised for its innovative apprenticeship programme and training courses.

The coveted award, which recognises the achievement of individuals, employers and work-based learning practitioners in Wales across 12 different categories, was presented to Convey at the event’s first ever live virtual ceremony hosted by Welsh tenor and BBC presenter Wynne Evans.

Based in Newport, South Wales, Convey Law developed and launched its own apprenticeship programme as it was struggling to recruit experienced conveyancers to grow the business.

The programme described as “life changing” by its Managing Director Lloyd Davies provides complete novices with the opportunity to qualify as Licensed Conveyancers within 2 to 3 years whilst working and earning great salaries in a professional environment as they progress to qualification. Apprentices are taught to convey property within the first 12 months of their apprenticeship.

Convey Law created the Conveyancing Academy “Conveyancing Pathway” courses which has helped to meet recruitment targets, with the number of Conveyancers increasing from 25 in 2019 to 55 in 2020.

In the last year alone, apprentice numbers have doubled from 15 to 30 and Convey Law’s total workforce is on course to double by the end of 2021 to just under 200.

Convey Law Conveyancing Academy’s Business Development Manager James Smith said:

“When we launched Convey Law, we did so with the intention of not just helping to revolutionise the conveyancing process for clients but also of bringing something back to Wales and our community by providing employment and career opportunities.

“It is not an exaggeration to say that our apprenticeship programme has been truly life-changing for some of our apprentices. It has provided them with a training pathway and a professional career with enhanced and sustainable prospects for them.

“To date, not only has the programme enabled us to train scores of our own apprentices, providing those career prospects for many in the South Wales region and beyond, but our sister organisation the Conveyancing Academy has become an industry-leading provider of conveyancing courses, meaning hundreds more around the UK are training and qualifying through our Conveyancing Pathway training courses.”

Mr Smith said he was “proud to have given something back to the conveyancing industry and to Wales”, adding:

“At Convey Law, we are all tremendously humbled to be recognised for the fantastic work our team have done in developing our apprenticeship programme and training courses.

“When we made the decision to do something proactive about not being able to recruit as many experienced staff as we needed to expand, we never dreamt our training academy and training courses would lead us down such an incredible and rewarding path, where we are making a genuine difference to many people’s lives here in Wales.”

Convey’s training courses have become industry-leading and are now available to other law firms and conveyancing practices through the Conveyancing Academy. They are the only training courses to be fully accredited by the Society for Licensed Conveyancers.

The Conveyancing Academy currently has a funding partnership with Cardiff and Vale College to offer its courses free of charge to other legal practices in Wales, with similar funding arrangements available for English legal practices.  Courses are 95 – 100% Government- funded, allowing legal practices throughout the UK to grow their conveyancing teams quickly and effectively for the first time.

John Nash, Chair of the National Training Federation for Wales said the awards “showcase and celebrate outstanding achievements by learners, employers and work-based learning practitioners across Wales”.