Estate Agent win gold at Sunday Times Estate Agency of the Year Awards

2013 has been a fantastic year for Crediton based agents, Helmores, and now a new national award sees them crowned Best Single Estate Agency in the South West at The Sunday Times Estate Agency of the Year Awards.

On Friday 6th December, approximately 650 leading estate agents descended upon The Lancaster London Hotel opposite Hyde Park for The Estate Agency of The Year Awards ceremony. The winners received their awards from celebrity guest, Penny Smith.

The awards ceremony was the culminating event of a rigorous and thorough judging process carried out by a panel of industry experts who assessed entry submissions before conducting an extensive review of the entrants. This included hundreds of telephone interviews and mystery shopping exercises, all overseen by the Property Ombudsman.

The awards are highly competitive and established as the most sought-after and difficult to win in estate agency. Over 5,000 entries were judged with only the very best of the best chosen as winners.

Following announcing Helmores as the South West winner, the judges report said; “The owners take great care of their team with interesting and innovative processes in order to maintain morale and enthusiasm. These range from a gym upstairs in the office to flu jabs! It is crystal clear that the staff is absolutely treated as the most important business asset and is well looked after. For a single office agency, the number of people is impressive and ensures first-rate, committed customer care. There is a strong focus on recruiting competent and efficient admin and support staff as well as having skilled front liners.”

They added; “This business enjoys an excellent local reputation and extensive market share and everyone works hard to develop a relationship with the community. Each buyer has a hamper delivered on the day of completion containing produce from local suppliers which is well received by all parties, and helps new residents feel immediately welcome and at home.”

Rob Stoyle, Owner & Partner of Helmores Estate Agents said; "2013 has already been a great year for us, having won four gold awards, a silver and bronze in other national awards a month ago. Plus, we were notified that we are ranked 80th out of 11,800 agents in the UK. We wholeheartedly thank the judges for this latest gold award which makes us the best agent in the South West – a region that they list as being from Land’s End to Gloucester. We would like to thank our staff for their on-going hard work, loyalty and commitment. Without them we certainly wouldn’t be the agents that we are today.”

Phil Morgan, Owner & Partner of Helmores commented; “We look forward to servicing new clients in 2014 that might be encouraged by this accolade; welcoming them into our High Street office with our award winning team. What a wonderful way to end the year!”