Testimonials
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Quality is integral to the homes that Mayflower Developments creates. For more than 20 years, the Hampton Court-based company has been building exclusive new homes, and refurbishing existing properties, in key locations in the south of England, including Sandbanks in Dorset, St George’s Hill, Weybridge, and Cobham, Surrey, to the highest standards of design and workmanship. With significant sums involved in Mayflower land and property transactions, managing director Nigel Rankine also looks for quality in the legal services supplied by solicitors used by the company. Since May 2008, he has found that quality at Meadows Fraser. |
Nigel explains: “We had previously used larger firms of solicitors in central London, but our experience was increasingly that we suffered from a lack of adequate personal attention, perhaps because Mayflower is a minnow compared with other, very large property companies with whom they do business.
“Issues have been overlooked due to lack of attention and when we have been trying to get deals done, we have been nowhere near the front of the queue, with transactions often delayed at the last minute rather than attended to in a business-like manner. We have also felt that there was more interest in fees than in delivering a first class service.”
In May 2008, Mayflower adopted a new approach by transferring its legal work on a trial basis to two local firms of solicitors in north Surrey and two in Poole, with the intention of subsequently selecting one firm in each area for a longer-term collaboration.
The relationship with Meadows Fraser – chosen as one of the Surrey firms as a result of Nigel meeting Piers Meadows at a social function in summer 2007 – has worked so well that just a few months after the trial began, Nigel has chosen the firm as his Surrey partner, with its primary focus on conveyancing and development work. Nigel says: “The service is much more personal and we also find the fees more reasonable.”
Working in exclusive locations can mean particular sensitivity is required in dealing with interested parties, including residents’ associations, and Nigel adds: “It is important to us is that Meadows Fraser is based in Weybridge and Peter Meadows knows the circumstances of the properties we are involved in buying and selling - he lives on St George’s Hill, where we are increasingly active.”
With future projects including the development of two further plots of land on St George’s Hill, Mayflower Developments looks set to continue building on the firm foundations the company has already established with Meadows Fraser.