The Sunderland City Centre based agency received the top accolade of Gold for both Sales & Lettings for the North East at the prestigious Estate & Letting Agent Awards 2013.

The award was announced by Phil Spencer, the TV property expert at a lavish luncheon & ceremony at the Hilton Park Lane London attended by 600 of the UK’s top estate and letting agents and suppliers to the industry.

The awards, celebrating their 10^th year are known throughout the industry as the ESTAS.  The ESTAS determines the best Estate & Letting agents in the country through research carried out amongst customers who are asked a series of questions about the service they have received from their agent, 23,000 questionnaires were completed by customers during the competition.

Phil Spencer, who has hosted the ESTAS every year since their inception in 2004 said “I think these awards help us all to focus on customer service for the greater good of our own businesses as well as the wider industry.  We must all drive standards higher, raising the bar in terms of the quality of advice we offer and the level of customer care we deliver.”

Agents were shortlisted in 18 regions around the country.  “The ESTAS competition is about recognising the hard work agents put in every day, every week and month of the year” says Simon Brown who runs the national scheme.  “So to be shortlisted is a great achievement, but to win is the highest accolade any agent can achieve”.

Michael Hodgson said “We are absolutely thrilled to have won the Gold for both Sales and Lettings again this year, it’s truly fantastic to have won the double! To be recognised year on year at The ESTAS’s means so much to myself and my team as we know it’s our customers who have judged our performance.  We take our levels of customer service very seriously because we know clients have a choice and we aim to offer an extremely high level of care and expertise that sets us apart from our competition. We have always been very proud of the personal service we provide and winning two gold awards for both sales and lettings demonstrates how good we really are.”

Two Sunderland businessmen are taking part in the upcoming Great North Run to raise money for SAFC Foundation.

Michael Hodgson of Michael Hodgson Chartered Surveyors and Craig Smith of Quantum Law LLP, who are both Corporate Members of SAFC Foundation, will be taking part in the run on Sunday 18th September and hope to raise £1,000 between them. The pair previously ran the Sunderland 10K to raise money for the Foundation.

The registered charity of Sunderland AFC, SAFC Foundation works with more than 40,000 children and their families every year in education, health, sport and community programmes across the North East.

One of the most developed Football Foundations in the country SAFC Foundation celebrates its 10th Birthday this year.

A donation of £1,000 funds places for 40 disabled children on a specialist two-day sports coaching course.

Michael commented “SAFC Foundation is a great charity that does a lot of good work in the local area and we wanted to do our part in supporting them. When the opportunity was offered to us to run the Great North Run and raise money for them it was an easy decision to make.”

Craig added “Our initial intention was to try and raise as much money as possible for the Foundation but as training’s gone on we’ve become quite competitive and we’ll be aiming to make the route in less than two hours on the day. Hopefully the Sunderland faithful will get behind us and give us plenty of backing – both in fundraising and on the day.”

Craig and Michael can be sponsored through their JustGiving pages – www.justgiving.com/CraigSmith01 and http://www.justgiving.com/MichaelSHodgson respectively.

SAFC Foundation’s Corporate Membership scheme costs just £250 + VAT per season with members receiving invites to exclusive events as well as other benefits.

For further information about the scheme please contact Lynsey Thompson on 0191 551 5311 or email lynsey.thompson@safc.com

The award was announced by Phil Spencer, presenter of Channel 4’s Location, Location. Location property programme at a lavish luncheon & ceremony at the Hilton Park Lane London attended by 500 of the UK’s top estate and letting agents.

Phil Spencer said “The ESTAS are the most important and valuable awards in our industry. An ESTA is not an easy accolade to pick up, to win one requires a lot of hard work, over a very long period of time.”

Simon Brown, owner of the awards added “ESTA agents believe passionately in providing the highest quality customer service. They are prepared to go that extra mile, prepared to take criticism as well as praise and prepared to invest and develop their businesses accordingly”.

The results of the competition were determined by research carried out amongst customers who are asked a series of questions about the service they have received from their agent. Over 26,000 votes were received making it the biggest consumer survey of its kind in the property industry.

Michael Hodgson said: “My team and I are delighted to have been honoured for the 4^th year in a row at these prestigious awards for both sales and lettings. It’s such an achievement to be nominated and we’re thrilled to have won an award for the 4th consecutive year.  The feedback we have received has been exceptional as we constantly strive to provide our customers a first class service, the awards are judged solely by customer feedback so we’re pleased to see all of our hard work and commitment are being recognised.”

The award was announced by Phil Spencer, presenter of Channel 4’s Location, Location property programme at a lavish luncheon & ceremony in Mayfair, London attended by 450 of the UK’s top estate and letting agents.

Phil Spencer said “By entering the awards agents have put their reputation on the line, they’ve been brave, they’ve done what others are afraid to do. They’ve said to their customers and their competitors – that they believe in providing the best possible service and they want to prove it. They’ve been recognised for their bravery and all that hard work involved to get to the final shortlist.”

The results of the competition were determined by research carried out amongst customers who are asked a series of questions about the service they have received from their agent. Over 19,000 votes were received making the awards the most important and valuable in the industry.

Michael Hodgson “I am delighted to have won again at these national awards for the third year running, my staff and I continually work hard for our clients and this accolade, which is judged by them, only goes to show our commitment and passion to providing a first class service for property sales is being appreciated” “In addition to the sales award we were shortlisted in the top 10 for the North East for lettings, this was also an honor and we hope to grow this side of the business over the coming year”

The awards are sponsored by HomeLet and Rayner Recruitment. John Boyle, Managing Director at HomeLet said “‘I’d like to congratulate the winners and all the businesses that were shortlisted. It’s a real honour for everyone who has been involved with the awards not just because of the fierce competition, but because the awards were judged by customers who’ve experienced their service first hand. I’m delighted that HomeLet have had the opportunity to be associated with the awards, which have once again proven to be a real highlight for the industry.’

Joshua Rayner, Managing Director of Rayner Recruitment said “We are delighted and honoured to support the awards. Rayner recruitment shares the same values in that we offer a simple, transparent service which offers excellent value for money to our clients.  Our clients strive to recruit the talent needed for their business growth. We aim to provide a both cost efficient way of recruiting as well as a Head Hunting prestige service for key performers.”

The award was announced by Phil Spencer, presenter of Channel 4’s Location, Location property programme at a lavish luncheon & ceremony in Mayfair, London attended by 450 of the UK’s top estate and letting agents.

Phil Spencer said “By entering the awards agents have put their reputation on the line, they’ve been brave, they’ve done what others are afraid to do. They’ve said to their customers and their competitors – that they believe in providing the best possible service and they want to prove it. They’ve been recognised for their bravery and all that hard work involved to get to the final shortlist.”

The results of the competition were determined by research carried out amongst customers who are asked a series of questions about the service they have received from their agent. Over 19,000 votes were received making the awards the most important and valuable in the industry.

Michael Hodgson said “to have been shortlisted in the top 10 in our first year of lettings is a fantastic achievement, my staff and I are delighted with this result!, our hard work and pride in what we do must be appreciated by our clients!”

The awards are sponsored by HomeLet and Rayner Recruitment. John Boyle, Managing Director at HomeLet said “‘I’d like to congratulate the winners and all the businesses that were shortlisted. It’s a real honour for everyone who has been involved with the awards not just because of the fierce competition, but because the awards were judged by customers who’ve experienced their service first hand. I’m delighted that HomeLet have had the opportunity to be associated with the awards, which have once again proven to be a real highlight for the industry.’

Joshua Rayner, Managing Director of Rayner Recruitment said “We are delighted and honoured to support the awards. Rayner recruitment shares the same values in that we offer a simple, transparent service which offers excellent value for money to our clients.  Our clients strive to recruit the talent needed for their business growth. We aim to provide a both cost efficient way of recruiting as well as a Head Hunting prestige service for key performers.”

The Awards are organised by Awards for Business www.theestas.com

The Estate & Letting Agent Awards, the largest and longest running awards in the estate & letting agent industry have announced their shortlist for 2010. Known in the trade as The Estas, the competition determines the best estate & letting agents in the country through research carried out amongst customers who are asked a series of questions about the service they have received from their agent. Over 60,000 questionnaires were sent out to customers during the competition. The regional categories are Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, North East & North West, Yorkshire & Humber, Wales, West Midlands, East Midlands, East of England, South West, Southern, South East and London.

The Sunderland based agency has been shortlisted as a TOP 10 estate & letting agent for both the sales and lettings categories in the North East region. The top three estate & letting agents for each region, as well as the national Grand Prix awards, will announced by Phil Spencer from Channel 4’s Location, Location at a lavish ceremony in London on 15th April. Phil said, “We must all together drive standards higher, raising the bar in terms of the quality of advice we offer and the level of customer service we deliver and the Estate & Letting Agent Awards help to do just that!” He adds, “It’s fantastic to see agents getting the credit they deserve after all the negative press they receive”.

David Dalby, Residential Director at Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, who support the awards said “This is the fifth year that RICS have been involved with the Estas, which we support because, unlike others, the results are based solely on customer satisfaction rather than the opinions of a judging panel. To win an Estate or Letting Agent of the Year Award, an agency has to demonstrate a consistently high level of service and, to achieve this, will be ensuring that staff follow standards of efficiency, good communication and transparency that differentiate the exceptional agent from the ordinary one.”

Nat Daniels, Publisher of Estate Agent Today, the leading trade website in the industry said “These are the only awards that really matter, because they are judged by the only people who really count – the public. Any agent looking to build reputation can do no better than to take part in this scheme.”

John Boyle, Managing Director of HomeLet who sponsor the awards said “We’re delighted to be associated with the Estas. The number of innovative agents driving improved customer service is undoubtedly increasing each year and the competition gets fiercer. It’s a real honour for everyone who has been shortlisted, not just because of the competition they face, but because the awards are judged by customers who’ve experienced their service first hand.’