The latest Today’s Conveyancer podcast marks a major milestone for property due diligence and environmental search provider Groundsure, which this year celebrates its 25th anniversary

Podcast host David Opie is joined by CEO Malcolm Smith and Customer Engagement Director Catherine Shiers to reflect on the evolution of the industry, the shifting expectations of consumers, and the innovations shaping the future of due diligence.

It's a very different world from the one Smith joined 18 years ago when Groundsure’s entire data asset, limited though it was, was stored on a single director’s laptop, which staff would wait for when producing reports. Today, the organisation operates a robust, secure, cloud‑based architecture, reflecting decades of investment in technology, process improvement and data accuracy.

The biggest shift, he adds, is the move from being perceived as an “environmental checks” company to being understood, internally and externally, as a content and data business. Everything Groundsure produces, from search reports to interpreted assessments, is built from curated datasets, continuously cleaned, quality assured, and refined to ensure reliability and property‑specific accuracy. This precision is central to the increasingly high‑stakes decisions conveyancers and their clients make.

The demands of consumers are also changing notes Shiers. The modern homebuyer is far more informed than the clients of a decade ago. If earlier in her career there was a greater acceptance of the interpretation of the reports, now with greater public awareness of things like climate, flood and ground stability risk, and the increasing use of AI, clients are more inquisitive, more knowledgeable and more willing to question search findings.

High‑profile issues such as climate change, flooding, PFAS contamination and even TV documentaries like Toxic Town have pushed environmental risk into the public consciousness and there is an expectation of deeper, more accurate insight

As conveyancing, and the wider sectors served by Groundsure, develop, there is an understanding within the business traditional paper-based or pdf desktop reports need to deliver the data in a more accessible structure; with direct integration with case management and other third party tools.

The discussion finishes on the next steps for up front and material information. How much is too much? And what are the commercial realities associated with providing so much data up front. While formats and delivery models will change, what matters is data integrity, relevance and clarity says Smith. The aim is not to add more risks to reports but to continue improving accuracy, usability and adaptability across workflows. Search alerts, digital outputs and adaptable data layers help ensure firms receive the right information at the right time, without overwhelming clients or inflating fees. And unlike the HIPs era, Malcolm emphasises that quality, not volume, must guide this evolution.

The Today's Conveyancer podcast can be found on your preferred podcast provider and also at www.todaysconveyancer.co.uk. Subscribe and listen in for all the latest conveyancing industry news and views.

Thank you to our podcast sponsors LEAP Legal Software