We sit down with Simon Slater, CEO at e4 Strategic UK to talk about their VERSA proposition and how it helps lenders get greater control and visibility of their pipelines.
Tell us a little bit about your background and why you set up e4 Strategic in the UK?
I started my career as an M&A lawyer, but for the past two decades I’ve been immersed in technology. At e4 in South Africa, I was part of fantastic executive team that built one of the country’s leading PropTech businesses, where today our platforms support over 95% of all mortgage transactions. That experience showed me how transformative the right digital solutions can be when they are designed around lenders, conveyancers and the end customer.
When I moved to become CEO at e4 UK in 2021, I was struck by the contrast of a very frustrating homebuying process. The front end of the mortgage process from application to offer had been successfully modernised but the moment an offer was issued, everything seemed to slow down. Manual handoffs, fragmented systems and duplicated admin were the norm, leaving buyers, lenders, brokers and estate agents with little visibility at what should be the most exciting stage of the buyer’s journey. It reminded me of the challenges South Africa faced before digitisation took hold, and it was clear the UK was ready for something better.
That’s why we launched e4 Strategic in the UK. Our mission is to transform the post-offer process into one that is digital, connected and transparent, setting a new benchmark for efficiency and collaboration between lenders and conveyancers in the market.
You launched VERSA in August this year. What is it and how does it help lenders, conveyancers and ultimately customers?
VERSA is our answer to one of the mortgage industry’s most persistent challenges: the “black hole” between offer and completion and the communication challenges between lender and conveyancer. Currently this part of the process is often disjointed and opaque. We’ve built VERSA as a fully digital workflow platform that brings everyone from lenders, conveyancers, buyers and even brokers into one single, shared view of progress.
Unlike legacy systems that focus on isolated portions of the process, VERSA is designed around the flow of case and providing end-to-end visibility. It keeps transactions moving through intelligent milestones, enables secure real-time communication, and introduces dynamic post-valuation query (PVQ) handling, which is a particular pain point for both lenders and law firms. It also supports digital document management with e-signatures and auto-verification, while integrating seamlessly with existing systems via open APIs.
The outcome is tangible. Lenders get greater control and visibility of their pipelines, conveyancers reduce their administrative burden and can respond easily and quickly, and brokers and buyers benefit from fewer “no updates” moments and a clearer sense of momentum of the legal journey.
What has been the feedback from the industry so far?
The reaction has been extremely positive. Lenders immediately see the potential when they realise PVQ turnaround times can be reduced from weeks to just a few days. Conveyancers likewise, see that anything that can facilitate and improve the communication with the lenders can only be a positive. This is in stark contrast to all parties trying to use email as some form of workflow system, which is impossible across thousands of cases and queries every month.
We are in detailed discussions with a number of major lenders and regularly consult leading conveyancing firms for their input as to how VERSA can best fit into their operations. For me, the most encouraging part is an appetite for technology that solves the daily issues that people have been grappling with for years. That’s exactly the role VERSA is here to play.
How easy is it for lenders and conveyancers to link VERSA with their existing systems?
Integration is often seen as the biggest barrier, so we designed VERSA as a cloud-native, open platform. It will connect easily with both lenders back-end systems and conveyancer CMS platforms, with only minimal customisation needed for things like lender-specific documents or UK Finance Handbook rules.
At the same time, we recognise that not every lender can take on a full transformation, that’s why some modules, like VERSA Connect for PVQs, can be rapidly deployed as a stand-alone solution. Others, such as VERSA Assure for panel management, can also be taken separately and easily configured to each lender’s requirements. This flexibility means lenders can start where it makes most sense and scale up as they build confidence.
What’s next for e4 now you’ve launched VERSA, and what’s your main focus for the next few months?
We have a number of key engagements in progress. Our focus is very much on listening and sitting down with lenders and conveyancers to ensure VERSA continues to evolve around them. That’s the only way to drive lasting adoption.
In terms of a roadmap we’re also developing the broader VERSA ecosystem, adding new layers of AI, automation, deeper integrations and more intelligent workflows. We have joined the Open Property Data Association (OPDA) to make sure the platform aligns with emerging industry standards and supports better collaboration across the whole sector. There also seems to be some real momentum and backing for transforming things, with the government announcing their major shakeup to the homebuying process in early October.
The bigger picture is clear. We want to deliver a post-offer journey that is faster, more transparent and less stressful for everyone involved in the homebuying process. We’ve seen the impact this kind of transformation can have at scale, and now it’s time for the UK to benefit too.
