He was previously managing director of Ventures, part of the BT Group, European MD of Enjoy Technology, and has also worked as a director of KPMG and within Accenture.

Hale has spent the past few months putting a team in place to reshape the ONP Group for the future.

His fellow members of the executive team include Craig Underwood, appointed as chief operating officer, and Mark Tosetti, group partnerships director, both of whom have joined from Optima Legal.

The ONP Group comprises O’Neill Patient Solicitors (ONP), Cavendish Legal Group, Grindeys, Conveyancing Alliance (CAL), LMS and LavaTech. It has offices around the UK and is looking to increase this number, initially focusing on a new office in Leeds.

Hale says the ONP Group has grown rapidly to become one of the largest conveyancing firms in the UK.

“Our goal now is to continue that growth but to do it in a sustainable and manageable way that puts people at the heart of our operation. By people, that means our colleagues and the partners we work with, including brokers, lenders and panel managers, and of course the end customer”.

He adds: “We now have a really strong executive team across the group, bringing together a mix of leaders from inside and outside the industry, who are all focused on achieving these aims and in turn, achieving growth. But this is not growth at any cost. This is manageable growth that will also deliver the very best service.”