Brokers have been warned that they need to ensure their business relationships are with well-run, stable firms.

This follows the recent collapse of conveyancing firm Fridays Property Lawyers.

That’s the view of Eddie Goldsmith, partner Goldsmith Williams Solicitors, and John Malone, chairman of PMS, who say that the recurring plight of high profile casualties in the sector, such as Hammonds Direct and Fox Hayes, is “incredibly damaging”” to the reputation of the conveyancing market.