This week, the merged business of Britannia and the Co-operative Financial Services announced it would drop the solicitors. Letters were sent to the affected solicitors to give them one month’s formal notice of removal from the panel.
The Society has written to the building society demanding they stay on the Britannia/Co-Operative conveyancing panel and requested an urgent meeting with chairman Bob Burlton.
In this letter, Robert Heslett, president of the Law Society, said he was shocked and saddened that such a step should be taken in the depths of the most severe recession since the Second World War.
He added: “The implications for the 3,600 businesses and the people employed by those businesses are stark, to say the least, and could have a knock on effect on access to justice if any are forced to close as a result.”
He added: “It is particularly disappointing that this decision should come from organisations with the reputation and standing of the Britannia Building Society and the Co-operative movement who understandably make much of their long-standing commitment both to the mutual ideal and the communities.”
