In the awards

Once again, RoS sponsored the Scottish Legal Awards to promote excellence and to raise the profile of our website, ros.gov.uk, where business information, guidance and best practice examples can be found.

The awards were presented at a black-tie ceremony on Thursday 17 March at the EICC. We offer our congratulations to everyone who was successful on the night, and in particular to the winners of the ros.gov.uk Residential Property Team of the Year award: Maloco + Associates. The firm was commended for their great team approach, the standard of supporting testimonials submitted, and their personality, which shone through their nomination.

It was also an exciting evening for RoS, as for the first time we were included in the nominations. We won The Law Society of Scotland Fundraising Achievement of the Year award. RoS is dedicated to supporting charitable causes and our staff nominate a charity to support each year. Their efforts for Alzheimer Scotland from September 2009 until September 2010 helped to raise over £20,000. Our total was achieved through sponsored events, sales, and a diverse range of individual initiatives with all staff able to contribute.

For 2010-2011, we are supporting St Columba’s Hospice in Edinburgh.

Development land specialist masterclass

We recently hosted a masterclass in Edinburgh, with participation from the Law Society of Scotland, Ordnance Survey and Lloyds Banking Group, aimed at solicitors who represent builders or developers. The seminar focused on reducing the risks associated with the conveyancing and registration of development land and subsequent transactions involving the land.

Applications to register a development or a transaction against a development, raise specific legislative, mapping and other registration requirements that, if ignored, can result in expensive remedial conveyancing or the issue of a qualified land certificate. The masterclass provided an opportunity to highlight key areas that present the greatest risk to obtaining a clear title and which mitigate against speedy processing of registration applications. We also outlined the services on offer to support best practice and to reduce the financial and title risks.

Details of the next masterclass can be found on our website ros.gov.uk, as can an outline of the products and services that RoS can offer to reduce risk for solicitors and their clients.

If you would be interested in attending, please contact Celeste Wilson (email celeste.wilson@ros.gov.uk; tel 0141 306 1512).

Meadowbank House upgrade under way

Our office at Meadowbank House in Edinburgh is currently undergoing a refurbishment project to improve facilities and accommodate a relocated Customer Service Centre.

Meadowbank House is a typical 1970s office building, now in need of an upgrade to bring it into line with current standards. The basic building is sound, providing a good base for RoS in the years to come. The site is generous enough to allow us to build an extension (see illustration) that will provide additional floor space, access at street level, and enable us to combine our Edinburgh-based customer and registration services on one site.

Work started at the end of February and will last for around two years. We expect to relocate our Customer Service Centre to Meadowbank House during 2012.

Another benefit will be an improvement to our building energy performance rating, with more efficient lighting, a new heating and cooling system, and a green roof of sedum planted on the extension.

If you want to follow the progress of the project you can check out our Facebook page (Registers of Scotland) or Twitter account (@RoStweets), and of course our website ros.gov.uk, where you will find a link to the full plans.

Changes to eServices support hours

Please note that opening hours of our eServices Support Desk have changed. Our eServices staff are available to support you from 8am until 5pm, Monday to Friday. The contact number for the eServices Support remains 0845 6070160.

Please note that this change will not affect the availability of ARTL, RD, eForms, SHP or SSSI.

ARTL Update – as at 17 March 2011

• 39,626 transactions have taken place
• 584 solicitors’ firms are currently on the ARTL system
• 28 lenders are currently on the ARTL system
• 13 local authorities are using the system.

For up-to-date information and a full list of participating practices and companies, go to: ros.gov.uk/artl

Wedding day office closure

Customers please note that Registers of Scotland’s offices will be closed on Friday 29 April, the day of the Royal Wedding. We will be open for business as usual on Monday 2 May.