A HARROGATE estate agency has beaten off rivals from across the UK to strike gold in the residential property industry’s ‘Oscars’.
Linley & Simpson, based on Princes Square, was crowned Community Champion of the Year in the 11th annual awards run by The Negotiator magazine.
And, in a rare double, the company – with sister branches in Ripon and Wetherby – also scooped silver in the search for the best Land and New Homes team.
Comedy star Julian Clary presented the independent agency – which employs more than 220 people and has branches across West and North Yorkshire – with its trophies in front of over 900 people at the London ceremony.
The Community Champion accolade marks a hat-trick of major honours for the company this year for its work supporting charities and good causes across Yorkshire.
This has ranged from raising more than £25,000 for its chosen charity, Martin House Children’s Hospice at Boston Spa, and creating wildlife and jungle gardens in its grounds for those being cared there; to helping the homeless and supporting grass-roots children’s sports clubs.
Judges praised its winning approach:
This was a strong submission with a wide range of community-related projects – with an obvious buy-in from the leaders and an impressive amount of time invested across the team.
We particularly liked the day’s paid leave to work in the community.
Its Land and New Homes specialism was awarded silver for a raft of initiatives it had designed to support Yorkshire developers in the marketing and sale of their properties.
Launched just four years ago with just a single member of staff and a £10m of properties, the department now employs a growing team of five and has seen its portfolio value increase 40-fold to over £400m.
Linley & Simpson Chief Executive Will Linley said:
Thanks to an amazing team effort, we were proud to fly the flag for Yorkshire on the national stage and beat some of the biggest names on the High Street.
It is a further signal of the home-grown talent that exists in the county, and how we harness this not just to add an extra dimension to the services we offer our customers, but also to support our local communities.
We are thrilled that our winning formula has yet again been recognised at the highest level in such a prestigious set of awards as these.
