Property search solicitors renovate Web operations

Edinburgh Solicitors Property Centre (ESPC) and its English and Welsh offshoot, the Solicitors Property Shop (SPS), have revamped their Web sites and introduced a raft of initiatives to aid on-line house searches.The Web sites, www.espc.com and www.sps.net, also include a detailed map search facility where visitors can click on a specific map area and ask for a list of properties, a keyword search for specific property features - such as 'conservatory' - and SMS text messaging to mobile phones to advise clients when a property has become available.The introduction of a personalised account facility also means that visitors can access on-line - by means of a password - their personal property portfolio.

The improvements are part of an ongoing IT investment by the Edinburgh-based group.Ron Smith, chief executive of ESPC (UK), explained that the revamp was necessary because of the increased traffic on the two sites.

'We are seeing a real change in the way that people buy houses,' he said.

'We are still selling a lot of homes, but over the last year the traffic on our sites has increased hugely, but we have seen fewer people coming through our showrooms.'He said the Web sites needed constant refreshment and re-invention.

'Technology is moving fast in this area, and since our launch many innovations have sprung up,' he said.

'We also take a note of customer feedback, and improvements that they would like to see on the sites.'The Web development is the latest in a series of initiatives launched by ESPC.

A financial services division was launched in June 2000, and in September 2000 the company redesigned its weekly property newspapers 'ESPC Homepages' and 'SPS Homepages'.There are 40 English and Welsh law firm members of SPS, spread out across the north-east, Yorkshire and north Wales.

Victoria MacCallum