My father is the inspiration behind the firm, although he was neither a solicitor nor a conveyancer.

When he passed away, my brother Angelo and I decided we wanted to create something meaningful that people would be proud to be a part of in his memory – and that’s how AVRillo was born. That’s where the name comes from too – A for Angelo and Antonino, which is my full name, V for our father Vincenzo, and the last part of our surname.

Both Angelo and I are qualified solicitors and had worked in other practice areas including conveyancing so when we first started, we did it all. It was just the two of us in a tiny office and we did everything, but as we grew bigger, we realised that to be really good at something, you have to specialise, and property was our passion.

That decision was also borne out of wanting to create a place where people liked coming to work, and at a time when morale can be low in some firms, I think we’ve succeeded in that.

We train our team to appreciate that buying or selling a home is one of the most significant moments in someone’s life, making our part in the process a really meaningful and rewarding job.

It’s only natural that clients may feel anxious or impatient at times, but we see it not just as an opportunity, but as a privilege to support them.

Specialist support

As solicitors, we are regulated by the SRA and so that’s the route we chose to go down at first, but when we moved to solely conveyancing it seemed like a no-brainer to switch to the CLC. Why wouldn’t you choose the regulator that specialises in the same practice area you do?

We spent a lot of time thinking about it and we talked to our staff about it. There are around 100 of us now so it’s not just about Angelo and I anymore, and we wanted to make sure it was a decision that everyone was on board with.

If you’re switching regulators, you have got to be organised and notify certain people, but we are methodical and we like to plan ahead. We talked to our lender panels in advance to make sure they would be okay about it – we were a bit worried we would lose our panel status, but there was no problem at all. In our circumstances, we opted to take out SRA run-off cover and start fresh under new CLC PII. We found it to be a narrow market, but the insurers were very fair.

The CLC was really helpful in giving us guidance about what we should be doing. They are very proactive. There’s very much a sense of ‘let’s look at what you’re trying to do and help you get it right.’ During the pandemic, for example, when some firms experienced issues with renewing their PII cover, the CLC came to an arrangement with insurers to mitigate the impact felt by the hardened PII market.

What’s also really good is if you do have a problem, they are very responsive and you can speak directly to the decision makers and they will work with you to find a solution.

The business means a lot to us and the biggest compliment I can give the CLC is that they have made it easier to run and I wish we had joined them sooner!

Dream team

As well as being our regulator, many of our employees have also qualified as licensed conveyancers via the CLC route.

Historically, licensed conveyancers have been looked down upon by some solicitors, but I think our reputation, reviews and the multiple awards we’ve won are testament to the fact that our employees are excellent at what they do.

People who come to work here are proud to have qualified with the CLC, and we are also immensely proud of the fantastic team we have built.