New West Coast Diligence Centre

We are pleased  to  announce,  that  in  line  with  our strategic business plan, our new West Coast Diligence Centre opened for business in January of this year.

Located at number 1 Smithhills Street, Paisley, PA1 1EB, this attractive and modern office facility is the perfect base for our West Coast Citation & Diligence operations.

By establishing   this   new   unit,   we   have   now consolidated most of our West Coast Sheriff Officer services, by  bringing  together  personnel  from  our former Hamilton, Dumbarton and Paisley offices, whilst also relocating personnel from our HQ in Glasgow.

We are confident that our new base of operation will provide enhanced levels of service delivery for  the benefit of all clients and other stakeholders.

In  addition  to  housing  our  West  Coast  Diligence personnel,  our  Summary  Warrant  Operations  Team (SWOT), including Officers and support personnel are also now co-located and better connected, which will result in greater operational efficiency.

Other support teams have also relocated, including our Investigations team and HR personnel, who now have the use of a dedicated, modern training suite.

As an IIP company, we want to provide the very best working environment for our personnel, who are the critical X Factor when delivering highly professional Sheriff Officer service. So far, staff feedback has been very positive.

Going forward, we have ample room for growth and it is our intention to establish a full backup Contact Centre to support our BCP, whilst also providing overflow space for our Glasgow based contact centre.

David Walker, Managing Partner, remarked that, “We are very excited about our New West Coast Diligence Operation, this project has enabled us to consolidate our west coast Sheriff Officer and Support Resource, which now enables  us  to  deliver  an  even  more  efficient  and professional Citation and Diligence service for the benefit of all clients, whilst also providing our people with the modern and comfortable working space they deserve.”

Walker Love receives full FCA Authorisation

Walker Love has become the first firm of Sheriff Officers & Debt Recovery specialists in Scotland to receive full authorisation from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to carry out financial services debt recovery activity throughout the UK.

“Receiving FCA authorisation is another significant milestone for Walker Love and we were delighted to be the first firm in Scotland to achieve fully authorised status. As Officers of the Court responsible for enforcing the civil law in Scotland, treating customers fairly whilst safeguarding an individual’s dignity and legal rights is in our DNA.

It has always been our ethos to discharge our duties fairly and impartially, so it wasn’t a giant leap for us to go through the rigorous application process, whereby we were required to openly demonstrate our robust oversight and governance framework, in order to receive our FCA licence”, commented David Walker, Managing Partner of Walker Love.

This award follows on from the firm successfully gaining Silver Investors in People (IIP) status at the end of 2015, augmenting other industry quality standards the firm has been awarded, including the coveted UKAS ISO27001 and ISO9001 standards for information security and quality assurance.

“We service a wide range of Local Authorities, Government agencies, financial services organisations and firms of solicitors both in Scotland and in England & Wales. By being awarded our FCA licence, it provides our clients with an added level of assurance and confidence, especially when they are dealing with regulated financial products and vulnerable individuals”.

The FCA came into force on 1 April 2013 and regulates UK firms providing financial services to consumers, having taken over responsibility for regulating the consumer credit industry from the Office of Fair Trading on 1 April 2014.

Walker Love Local Authority Forum Summer 2016

Walker Love’s Local Authority Forum provides finance and debt collection professionals an opportunity to get together to discuss the main issues impacting the collection of monies owed to Local Authorities.

The Forum also provides Local Authority delegates an opportunity to share best practice and to discuss legislative developments and the potential impact on Authorities current and future collection and debt recovery strategies.

The Forum takes place on 7th June at Houstoun House Hotel, Livingston and will be hosted by David Walker, Chris Bell, Dorothy Lowe and James Walker from Walker Love, and the following guest speakers:

  • Dr Richard Dennis, The Accountant in Bankruptcy and Agency Chief Executive; and Carol Kirk, Policy Team Leader will provide an update on the strategic policies and post implementation review of Bankruptcy and Diligence legislation.
  • Yvonne MacDermid, Chief Executive, Money Advice Scotland (MAS), will provide a talk on their financial capability work and the role of MAS.
  • Gary Weir, Service Delivery Manager, Glasgow City Council will discuss the Council’s recovery strategies and joint working initiatives with Walker Love.

With a workshop discussion on the practical implications for Local Authorities arising from the AIB policy chaired by Walker Love Partners, the session begins at 9.15am and runs until 1.30pm.

If you would like to attend, please do get in touch with Chris Bell or Dorothy Lowe, Walker Love. We would be delighted to hear from you.