Cartmell Shepherd Limited

Slow, unresponsive and expensive:
- Sept. 18, we agreed Nicholson Portnell (now Cartmell Shepherd) would support the purchase of our home. Helen Appleby was assigned. Apart from signing us on as clients, no action was taken. They did not request contract pack.
- Nov. 19, price adjustments completed. still no action from Solicitors apart from asking about lender. No enquiries started.
- Nov. 21 we asked for a pause as we switched lender
- Dec. 10 confirmed the new lender and that all financial documents were completed and provided. No response from solicitor.
- Dec. 19 we were informed that the solicitor had left the firm and our file was passed to a paralegal Ashley.
- Dec. 20 We confirmed again that the requested documents had been provided. there was no response from Ashley.
- Jan. 3 responded that documents had in fact been received and that Ashley had requested the contract pack from seller. We were very surprised this was the first time this had come up that the contract pack had not been requested. We responded enquiring regarding a timeline and were informed we could expect to wait 12-16 weeks. We were shocked this would take this long - particularly since we had been asking for support on this transaction since September.
- Jan. 10 we reached out asking if there was any way to accelerate the closing of the transaction. We never received a response.
- Jan. 22 Ashley responded that she had been made aware that Seller may pass soon. We enquired again whether we could accelerate close and were told it could be completed in as little as 2 weeks.
- Jan. 29 Seller passed and we later withdrew from the purchase
Although we had already separately paid for the searches (£560), we were presented with an additional invoice of £2,563. This seems like an exorbitant rate based on support that was sub-par at best

Had to go through a financial agreement and sarah helped with this. Sarah was very efficient and great communication throughout the whole process. Would definitely recommend her and the company.

We used Nicholson Portnell for our recent conveyance and their service throughout was first class. Simon and his team dedicated significant time and effort to progress our house purchase. Despite complications along the way, their professionalism and commitment ensured a successful outcome. Throughout the process we were informed of our options and valued the advice we received at every stage. On our journey to buying our house ( a three year process), estate agents have commented on the attentiveness and dedication of Simon and his team. We would highly recommend Simon and his team. Thank you.

I have had the delight of having Emma Heather, Janine Calkin and Victoria Waters, amongst others, provide me with simply the best service I could have ever hoped for with regards to my divorce.
They have been timely, informative, polite and thoroughly understanding throughout this process and have, in my mind, taken an otherwise horrible scenario and given me peace of mind. My family and I have really benefitted from having their advice and confidence at our disposal and have no doubts that this was the best possible outcome for all involved.
Therefore, Emma and her team have my eternal gratitude for their patience and warmth.
Thanks folks! And stay groovy!

I very recently just used Nicholson Portnell for a house purchase in Newcastle and cannot fault the service I received from Simon Jewitt and his team from a conveyancing side of things. They were very diligent, extremely professional and friendly and had things turned around in a very timely manner. Would highly recommend them. Thanks again! Richard.