Offices from around the UK were commended for their exceptional performance at the Guild of Property Professionals – previously known at the Guild of Professional Estate Agents - gala dinner and annual awards, which was held at The Vox conference centre in Birmingham on Friday 27 January.
The awards were presented after a full day at the Guild’s annual conference, where the company’s new brand was revealed. This is the biggest change in fifteen years, and includes changing the company name from the Guild of Professional Estate Agents to the Guild of Property Professionals, as well as a new look.
The awards ceremony was once again sponsored by The Telegraph, who commented said: “As the UK's best-selling quality daily newspaper, The Telegraph is looked to by its readers as a trusted source of expertise. It is therefore fitting that we are able to celebrate excellence in the property industry by sponsoring the awards ceremony at the Guild of Property Professionals."
The awards were presented by Marcus Whewell, CEO of the Guild, and property TV presenter Melissa Porter.
The prestigious ‘Best National Guild Member’ award was given to Victorstone Property Consultants, which has offices across London. Scott Hailou, Area Director of Victorstone, said: “This is a very proud moment. We sincerely appreciate our staff’s excellent performance, participation and promotion of the Guild. Our business has not only benefited from their diligent work, but they have now set a benchmark in a nationally recognised network within our industry.”
The Gold Lettings Award was given to Bassets Estate Agents. Quentin Thatcher, Head of Bassets Lettings, said: “To win the Gold Award for Best Lettings Agent for the second consecutive year is an outstanding achievement for all of us at Bassets. We are honoured to be recognised for our hard work and dedication at a national level. I’d personally like to thank my team for always striving to go above and beyond what is expected to enable us to provide our clients with an exceptional, personable service.”
As competition for the lettings category was so fierce this year, a Silver Award for Lettings was introduced, which was given to Sawyer & Co.
Awards were given to the best Guild Member in each region of the country as follows:
• North West - Logic Estates
• Midlands - Bentons
• Wales - Williams and Goodwin
• East Anglia - Thomas Morris Estate Agents
• South East – Sawyer & Co
• South – Seymours Estates
• South West - Sawdye and Harris
• North East - Next2Buy
• Home Counties – Oasis Estate Agents
• London - Victorstone Property Consultants
Marcus Whewell, CEO of the Guild of Property Professionals, said: “Once again, I am very grateful for the wonderful support of our estate agency members, guest speakers and partners for our annual conference. The market is unpredictable, but the opportunity to the share ideas and opportunities is a key benefit of being part of such a prestigious network.
“We are proud that The Telegraph have sponsored our awards for the second year running. We received a fantastic breadth and quality of entries, and our congratulations go to all the worthy winners, especially Victorstone Property Consultants and Bassets Estate Agents, who were announced as best overall estate and letting agents of the year respectively.”