Conveyancing firm O’Neill Patient (ONP) has welcomed 79 new starters in the first four months of this year, including graduates from its training academy, as it looks to cater for unprecedented demand for its services.

This new recruitment means ONP’s head count for conveyancing sale and purchase has increased by 40% since the start of the year as conveyancers face more cliff edges and greater pressures on their practices following the government’s decision to extend the stamp duty holiday.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced in his March Budget that the stamp duty holiday would be extended until the end of June, followed by a tapered approach until the end of September.

While March’s extension was great news for borrowers – and estate agents – in the pipeline, Nick Chadbourne, CEO of LMS, argued at the time that “the initial cliff edge has simply been moved to the 30th June”.

Speaking in March, Chadbourne said: “The [stamp duty] extension adds fuel to an already well-lit fire, and will likely cause a second surge of purchase applications in the coming months.”

Adam Forshaw, managing director at O’Neill Patient, says that his firm has recruited “bright and enthusiastic people”, many who lost jobs through Covid, and are now retraining to be case managers or conveyancing support staff.

Forshaw commented: “The comprehensive training programme has been developed for new starters in response to the Covid restrictions and lockdowns. We wanted to support the industry and encourage those who wish to start a career by offering a way to learn how to do the job while we are all home based.

He added: “Since the announcement of the stamp duty holiday last year, the transactional arm of our business has seen rapid growth. It is here where we have focussed our recruitment drive and training.”

“We have worked tirelessly in a short space of time to take conventional office and classroom-based learning into the remote working arena.”