On Wednesday 22nd February Belvoir Lettings held their prestigious annual black tie dinner and awards ceremony at Belton Woods Hotel, near Grantham.
The evening was attended by representatives from Belvoir offices throughout the UK and was hosted by writer and broadcaster Gyles Brandreth.
Among the 22 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 Franchise of the Year Award, Belvoir Innovation Award and Belvoir Charity Champion Award.
On opening the ceremony Belvoir’s MD Dorian Gonsalves said, “Good evening ladies and gentlemen and a very warm welcome to the Belvoir Awards 2012. I would like to begin by thanking all of you for attending the awards ceremony today – I hope you’re all in the mood to celebrate as there are lots of awards to recognise the people who have achieved something very special.
“Yesterday saw one of the most important structural changes in the history of Belvoir and I am very proud to be standing here before you as the very first CEO of Belvoir Lettings PLC.
“We have entered a new era – one that we couldn’t have possibly reached without the proactive, positive support from the Belvoir network and the hard work from all of you. The people in this room are the most committed and skilled individuals in our network and my personal thanks to each and every one of you.
“I hope you have a wonderful evening and enjoy celebrating the success of our finalists who are sitting amongst you. They have all achieved something very special in 2011. Our winners this evening deserve to be recognised as the best of the best within Belvoir. For our combined achievements in 2011, I think we all deserve a rapturous round of applause for another great year. And congratulations to all the winners, you truly deserve your awards and it’s fantastic to be able to recognise you in front of your peers.”
Well done winners
The first award was for Belvoir’s Charity Champions, which was given to the offices who had raised the most money for charity during the past 12 months.
The three winners – Belvoir Northwich, Belvoir Melton Mowbray and Belvoir Christchurch – had all organised successful fund-raising events, including holding a golf day, setting up a sponsored bike ride and taking part in a static cycle ride.
The next award was for the Most Improved Office. The Silver award went to Belvoir Hitchin, while the Gold award was won by Belvoir Lichfield.
“The Gold award, the top award, goes to an office that increased business levels by an incredible 82% year-on-year. A huge well done to this office,” said Dorian on presenting the award.
Angie Allgood of Belvoir Lichfield said, “This is an award that speaks for itself and it’s lovely to have won it – it’s one of the nicest awards to win as it shows that the 10 years of hard work we’ve put in at Belvoir Tamworth has been successfully put into practise at Belvoir Lichfield. We’ve worked very hard all year round and we feel very privileged to have won.”
Next came the Monthly Record Breaker of 2011 (won by Terry Lucking of Belvoir Peterborough), an award that recognises the highest turnover in a single month in the judging period. Following this came the Rankings Winner awards, for the offices with the highest turnover in 2011. Taking third place was Belvoir Lincoln, second place went to Belvoir Sheffield and overall winner in first place was Belvoir Peterborough.
Awards were also presented for the best Acquisition (won by Belvoir Tunbridge Wells), Belvoir Group Contribution (Silver winner Mike Campbell of Belvoir Falkirk, joint Gold winners Rick Flay of Belvoir Sheffield and Paul Collins of Belvoir Lincoln), the most innovative franchise owner (won by Terry Lucking of Belvoir Peterborough), outstanding customer service (Bronze winner Belvoir Warrington, Silver winner Belvoir Macclesfield and Gold winner Belvoir Basingstoke) and New Franchise of the Year, an award given to those offices who have excelled in their first year of trading. The Silver award went to Ben Davies and Daisy Hewitt from Belvoir Swansea, while Simon and Sally Bell from Belvoir Telford took the Gold.
“The Gold award goes to two people who have demonstrated professionalism, integrity and at the same time as running a new business they’ve given a huge amount of support to other new and potential franchise owners,” said Dorian on presenting the award. “This award is very, very well deserved.”
Proprietor of Belvoir Telford Simon Bell said, “I was genuinely surprised and thrilled to win New Franchise of the Year. We had not been focused on winning an award, but rather on providing good customer service, engaging with our landlords and making sure our team is happy.
“It is fantastic to win and it will help to ensure that Belvoir Telford gains national recognition and our clients will associate us with good service, which can only help us to evolve and differentiate ourselves from the competition.
“It is wonderful for my wife and family and the two people who work with us full time – they richly deserve this award.
“If anyone is thinking of buying a Belvoir franchise it just goes to show that if you focus on your business and your customers the awards and the success will come.”
And finally…
The final award of the evening was Belvoir’s top award, Franchise of the Year 2012. Winners were recognised in three categories: Gold, Silver and Bronze.
Receiving the Bronze award was Belvoir Hitchin. Dorian Gonsalves said, “The Bronze award goes to an office that has been a real shining star in the Belvoir network. For going above and beyond the call of duty and representing Belvoir at the very highest level, this office deserves to be recognised.”
Proprietor of Belvoir Hitchin Luke Mason said, “I’m very pleased for the recognition of the hard work myself and the team have put in over the last year – we work extremely hard to build on the Belvoir brand and give good customer service. It’s great to be part of a successful company, which recently floated on the London stock market.”
The Silver award was presented to Belvoir Sheffield. “The Silver award goes to an office that has become one of the largest offices in the network, even though they compete with over 100 letting agencies in their city,” said Dorian. “More than that, the partners (Rick Flay and Sarah Powell) give so much back to the network, they again deserve to be recognised at the highest level.”
On receiving the award Rick Flay said, “We care about our clients, work very hard and are always seeking to evolve and grow the business so it’s fantastic to win this award and we’re very happy to be recognised. It’s been a great evening all round.”
But the winner of the prestigious Franchise of the Year 2012 Gold Award was Belvoir Peterborough – which made it the fourth award of the evening for proprietor Terry Lucking…
On presenting the award Dorian said, “Terry is someone who needs no introduction. He’s one of our most successful franchise owners who is always willing to help the network. With many years of experience in the industry and two successful franchises, it is a real pleasure to have you with us tonight Terry. You help push the boundaries of success, giving enormous support to the Directors and to the network, I am delighted to recognise you as Franchise of the Year 2012.”
“I’m extremely proud,” said Terry. “Not just for myself but for my team too. Without them I wouldn’t have been able to do this. 2011 was a year of immense challenge and change for us but we’ve pulled together and achieved great results. I’d like to thank every member of my team, each of which has worked tirelessly to provide the best service to our customers, their fellow colleagues and me.”
The awards ceremony ended with some closing words from Belvoir’s founder, Mike Goddard. “What an evening! I’m lost for words,” he said. “There is a fantastic group of franchisees here, Dorian has led from the front and Gyles was an outstanding speaker – this has been the best Belvoir awards evening by a clear mile.
“Building the Belvoir brand has been a team effort over the years and I’m extremely proud of all the staff and franchise owners.
“This evening is about recognising and rewarding the very best of Belvoir. Each year the bar gets higher and higher, the standards get higher and higher and the competition gets higher and higher. Each year it becomes much more difficult to become a finalist and receive an award. Ladies and gentlemen, for all your hard work I would like to thank you all very much.”
Key quotes of the evening…
Writer and broadcaster Gyles Brandreth: “The rental market is growing but competition is growing too and it’s a real achievement if you are a winner tonight.”
Macmillan’s Area Fundraising Manager for Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire Rachel Herrick: “Your money will make a real difference. Thank you so very very much.”
Belvoir’s founder Mike Goddard: “What an evening! I’m lost for words. This has been the best Belvoir awards evening by a clear mile.”
MD Dorian Gonsalves: “The judging this year was the most challenging it ever has been and this is entirely due to the sheer volume of success stories across the network.”
Writer and broadcaster Gyles Brandreth: “It’s been a very special evening, a glorious evening and a remarkable gathering. You are like members of one big family – and I’d like to thank you for your laughter and congratulate you on your friendship.”
Charity champions
Over the last year Belvoir franchise owners and members of Central Office have taken part in numerous challenges to help raise funds for their chosen charity, Macmillan Cancer Support.
During the awards ceremony, Belvoir were proud to present a charity cheque of £16,255.17 to Macmillan’s Area Fundraising Manager, Rachel Herrick.
“Thank you so much,” said Rachel. “Your money will make a real difference. One in three people will get a cancer diagnosis at some points in their lives and there are currently two million people living with cancer in the UK – this is expected to double by 2030.
“We currently support half of these people – but we want to be there for everyone and we can’t do that without your support. Thank you so very very much.”
Belvoir have pledged to continue raising money for Macmillan, with the aim of raising a further £15k within the next twelve months.
Winners at a glance…
Belvoir Franchise of the Year – Gold – Peterborough
Belvoir Franchise of the Year – Silver – Sheffield
Belvoir Franchise of the Year – Bronze – Hitchin
Belvoir New Franchise of the Year – Gold – Telford
Belvoir New Franchise of the Year – Silver – Swansea
Belvoir Customer Award – Gold – Basingstoke
Belvoir Customer Award – Silver – Macclesfield
Belvoir Customer Award – Bronze – Warrington
Belvoir Rankings Winner- First -Peterborough
Belvoir Rankings Winner-Second – Sheffield
Belvoir Rankings Winner-Third – Lincoln
Belvoir Monthly Record Breaker – Peterborough
Belvoir Most Improved Office – Gold – Lichfield
Belvoir Most Improved Office -Silver – Hitchin
Belvoir Acquisition Award – Tunbridge Wells
Belvoir Charity Champion – Melton Mowbray
Belvoir Charity Champion – Christchurch
Belvoir Charity Champion – Northwich
Belvoir Innovation Award – Peterborough
Belvoir Group Contribution Award – Gold – Paul Collins from Lincoln
Belvoir Group Contribution Award – Gold – Rick Flay from Sheffield
Belvoir Group Contribution Award – Silver – Mike Campbell from Falkirk
