Summer is nearly upon us, and as the days have been getting longer I’ve been continuing to meet with stakeholders and discuss the business priorities that matter.

May has provided valuable opportunities to continue conversations with customers.

There have been several events in May on the back of our successful engagement campaign in the autumn of 2018. This month I was a guest speaker at the Law Society Presidential Tour and met with the faculties of both Dingwall and Wigtown, and also met with the faculty in Stornoway virtually when my scheduled flight was cancelled. To round out the month’s activity, our Registration and Policy Director attended faculty meetings in Peterhead and Elgin. All these engagements were valuable opportunities to continue the conversation from last year, as well as update attendees with the latest news from RoS.

A real highlight of May was our first Registers Open Day.

We opened the doors of our Edinburgh office to stakeholders from a number of areas, including solicitors, conveyancers and public sector colleagues. We gave them a first-hand look at our registration process, showing how an application is processed from the moment it arrives. We also held a series of workshops on matters like ScotLIS, mapping and rectifications.

The feedback we received from attendees has been overwhelmingly positive, so I’d like to thank all of you again who took the time to join us. Interest in the event was high, and  we’re looking into hosting similar events in the future; in the meantime, keep an eye on our social channels (you’ll find the links below) for the latest updates, and I’d also suggest having a look at our podcasts and webinars for even more updates. I am very conscious that it won’t have been possible for many customers based further-afield to travel to Edinburgh to attend the Open Day, so we are also actively considering if it’s possible to create a mobile version of the Open Day and bring it to you. Watch this space for more details.

Another exciting development this month has been the development of Geovation Scotland.

This initiative has been developed alongside Geovation London, Ordnance Survey and the Geospatial Commission, and will provide an accelerated incubator programme and office hub for the geo-tech community in Scotland. I’m delighted that RoS are playing a key role in delivering Geovation Scotland, and can’t wait to see what the future holds for it, and the start-ups it will support.

Other business developments have continued apace.

We’re progressing with efforts to clear our arrear, in line with our current Corporate Plan. I’ll continue to update you on new developments, and you can also track progress on our website.

We’ve also been receiving positive feedback on our DDS single channel service, which allows users to create paper applications through the same intuitive interface used for digital applications. And finally, hot off the press, on 29 May we refreshed our ScotLIS offering for members of the public – see our website for all the details. Like clearing our arrear, this is a big part of our Corporate Plan, and I look forward to hearing feedback on the updated service.

Want to hear more from Jennifer?

You can follow Jennifer Henderson on Twitter — she’s @RoSKeeper. We also share news, updates and guidance on the main Registers of Scotland social accounts which you can find on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. You can also let us know what you think via the comments below.