Belvoir award winners!
Belvoir Lettings hosted their annual conference on Wednesday 20th March and later recognised the achievements of top performing franchise owners at a prestigious annual black tie dinner and awards ceremony. The evening was attended by Belvoir franchise owners throughout the UK, and was hosted by comedienne and celebrity speaker Ruby Wax at Belton Woods Hotel, Grantham.
Among the 23 awards presented was the Belvoir Monthly Record Breaker Award, New Franchise of the Year Award, Belvoir Acquisition Award, Belvoir Most Improved Office Award, Belvoir Group Contribution Award, Belvoir Innovation Award, Belvoir Charity Champions Awards and the much coveted Belvoir Franchise of the Year.
On opening the ceremony Belvoir Chairman Mike Goddard said: “This evening is all about celebrating success, and 2012 was a remarkable year for Belvoir. In February 2012 Belvoir became the first Lettings Specialist to launch on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange. We entered into a new era and I am incredibly pleased to announce that it has been a very successful year.
Our shareholders put their trust in the brand, as many of our franchise owners did and with their support we have delivered on our ambitious business plan and proved that as a group, we are one of the leading players in the lettings industry. This success is all down to the hard work and commitment put in by the entire Belvoir network and it is a pleasure to be able to acknowledge our top franchise owners at this wonderful awards ceremony.”
Congratulations
The first awards were for Charity Champions, which was given to the offices who had raised the most money for Macmillan Cancer Support, Belvoir’s chosen charity for 2012, raising over £25,000 in the process.
The three winners – Belvoir Andover, Belvoir Melton Mowbray and Belvoir Northwich – all organised successful fund-raising events including a charity golf day, a family fun day and completing a 10K sponsored race.
The next award was for the Most Improved Office. The Silver award went to Belvoir Telford, while Belvoir Guildford won the Gold Award. On presenting the Gold Award to Glenn Wakeham, owner of Belvoir Guildford, Mike said: “Glenn increased his business by a tremendous massive 123% from last year, and genuinely deserves Belvoir’s top award for the Most Improved Office.”
A delighted Glenn said: “My team are really proud to have won this award and this will motivate us to raise our standards to an even higher level.”
Next came the Monthly Record Breaker of 2012 (the first of four awards won by Rick Flay and Sarah Powell of Belvoir Sheffield), an award that recognises the highest turnover in a single month in the judging period. Following this came the Rankings Winner awards, for offices with the highest turnover in 2012. Taking third place was Belvoir Lincoln, second place went to Belvoir Sheffield and overall winner in first place was Belvoir Peterborough, who also won this award last year.
Awards were also presented for best Acquisition – won by Belvoir Newcastle Central, Belvoir Group Contribution – Bronze winner Paul Wallace-Tarry of Belvoir Shrewsbury, Silver winner Luke Mason of Belvoir Hitchin, and the Gold winner was Rick Flay of Belvoir Sheffield). Paul Collins of Belvoir Lincoln won the Belvoir Innovation Award in recognition of his highly successful BTL seminars. Outstanding Customer Service Bronze Award winner was Belvoir Warrington, Silver winner was Belvoir Paisley and Gold winner was Belvoir Macclesfield. Belvoir’s New Franchise of the Year, an award given to those offices who have excelled in their first year of trading, went to Richard Irving from Belvoir Crewe and Nantwich, whilst Leanne Mitchell of Belvoir West Derby West took Silver.
“Richard showed his commitment to brand Belvoir by purchasing an acquisition within his first 12 months of trading and after only seven months, was turning over almost ten thousand pounds,” said Mike. “This award is very, very well deserved.”
Proprietor of Belvoir Crewe and Nantwich, Richard Irving said: “I am absolutely over the moon. From the very first moment I met the team at Belvoir Central Office, I knew I wanted to be part of Belvoir – and it’s absolutely surpassed all my expectations. Winning Belvoir’s New Franchise of the Year is just incredible!”
Belvoir Franchise of the Year
The final award of the evening was Belvoir’s top award of Franchise of the Year 2013. Winners were recognised in three categories: Gold, Silver and Bronze.
On presenting the Bronze Award to Mike Campbell of Belvoir Falkirk. Mike Goddard said: “Mike is a well deserving but very modest character, whose knowledge of his surrounding area is incomparable. Despite all the regulation that was recently introduced in Scotland, Belvoir Falkirk managed to successfully complete an acquisition and is now the biggest agent in their area. Many congratulations!”
A delighted Mike Campbell said: “This is a great honour. We were fortunate to have been recognised in the past and it is good to see and share in the quiet satisfaction of others in my team. As we approach our 10th anniversary we recently broke through the 500 managed property barrier. With hard work over the years we have been the biggest agent in town for a little while now, but cemented that recently with an acquisition of a competitor.”
The Silver award was presented to Belvoir Telford. “The Silver Award for Belvoir Franchise of the Year goes to a couple that have surpassed all expectations and are no strangers to winning awards,” said Mike. “Simon and Sally Bell doubled their business in 12 months and are still as determined as ever to grow. Belvoir Telford is aiming high and we are certain that they will achieve their goals. Shortlisted as Newcomers of the Year at the prestigious Negotiator Awards 2012 and recognised as Belvoir’s New Franchise Owner of the year in 2012, they are worthy winners.”
Commenting on the award Simon Bell said: “We were very proud to win and the team at Belvoir Telford are all thrilled. We all work to provide excellent customer service to both tenants and landlords alike. Each and every award means exactly the same to our team, as it is recognition for being that little bit extra special.”
The winner of the prestigious Franchise of the Year 2013 Gold Award was Belvoir Sheffield – making it the fourth award of the evening for Rick Flay and Sarah Powell.
On presenting the award Mike said: “Rick and Sarah run a powerhouse of a business and in the last 12 months have dramatically grown Belvoir Sheffield. Over a six-week period in summer 2012, they managed 256 move-ins and move-outs, which was a network record. Many congratulations to this fantastic duo.”
“We were delighted to win and feel extremely proud to have won four awards, including this top one of Belvoir Franchise of the Year, which is a fantastic achievement for our team,” said Rick. “Last year really was an exceptional year for us, when we set a new monthly record of turnover in Group history and also set a new record for the number of move-ins and move-outs. We also achieved a 22% increase in business growth, which I think represents a good achievement in the current economic climate.”
On closing the awards Mike said: “The Awards Ceremony is always the highlight of my year since it recognises outstanding achievement by Belvoir’s franchise owners. This year once again the standards have risen even further and it gives me great pleasure to see the passion, enthusiasm, energy and success that typifies those here tonight and I am so happy to witness the very pinnacle of achievement within Belvoir. Well done to everybody.”
