Reeds Rains Wins Gold Award for Best Northern Ireland Lettings Agency

Online, June 9, 2012 (Newswire.com) - Reeds Rains was awarded Gold for Best Northern Ireland Lettings Agency at The Lettings Agency of the Year Awards 2012 in association with The Sunday Times and The Times and sponsored by Zoopla.co.uk.

On Friday 25th May, over 450 leading lettings agents from throughout the UK attended a glittering ceremony at The Lancaster London Hotel opposite Hyde Park where the winners of dedicated awards for the lettings agency industry were revealed. The winners received their awards from former Olympic Champion, Sir Matthew Pinsent who wowed the audience with some incredible stories of his achievements.

The awards ceremony was the culminating event of a rigorous and thorough judging process carried out over a four-month period by a panel of industry experts who assessed initial entry submissions before conducting an extensive review of the entrants, which included hundreds of telephone interviews and mystery shopping exercises. The whole of the judging process was overseen by The Property Ombudsman; Christopher Hamer.

Now in its third year as a dedicated competition, these awards have become widely recognised as the most sought-after and difficult to win. With more entrants than ever before, over 5,000 offices were represented this year, but only the very best of the best were crowned as winners.

Reeds Rains, winners of the Best Northern Ireland Lettings Agency were delighted to receive the award. On accepting the award, a thrilled Nadine Laffoley (Lettings Trainer) who prepared the Reeds Rains Northern Ireland entry, said "Hard work, dedication and a passion for Lettings certainly pays off! How fantastic to receive a gold award from four times Olympic gold medal winner in our Olympic year? Sir Matthew Pinsent rocks and Reeds Rains does too of course!"

Ryan Andrews, Northern Ireland Regional Operations Director for Reeds Rains commented "We have invested a lot of time and effort in the Lettings side of our business since we opened our doors in 2010 and this award is for all of the branches in the region. The Lettings market in Northern Ireland has grown in recent years and we see this trend continuing in the years ahead. We as agents will be looking to move from strength to strength in this area."

Lettings Director at Reeds Rains, Mark Chatterton continued "Winning gold in our first proper attempt at the Lettings Awards is a great achievement and the spin off from the accolade of being the best agent in Northern Ireland should help us enormously to win more business, not just in NI but across the whole network."

The judge's report highlighted that "Reeds Rains' Bangor-based office in Northern Ireland boasts a 'razor-sharp' lettings service with 'on the ball' staff offering a relaxed style of customer service that impressed the judges. Competition doesn't come anywhere near this agency's comprehensive service offering, which is underpinned by robust systems and processes, assuring landlords and tenants of its high standards. The LSL-owned agency trains staff on an ongoing basis and ensures that new staff members are mentored until they hit these standards. This attention to detail has enabled the agency to steal a march on their competitors in just under two years since being rebranded from Halifax to Reeds Rains as part of LSL's acquisition of HEAL in 2010. Turnover has increased by 110% year-on-year."

Peter Knight, Chairman of the event organisers Estate Agency Events commented; "Landlords and tenants can be confident that the agents displaying this awards medal represent the very best of the best. Whilst there has been much talk of the need to establish minimum standards for lettings agents, I am delighted that these awards can shine a light on those firms that are exceeding standards at every level within an increasingly competitive industry."

The main awards were sponsored by Zoopla.co.uk, whilst the specialist categories were sponsored by some of the industry's leading suppliers including Audio Agent, ARPM, BriefYourMarket.com, Endsleigh Insurance, Imfuna, LetMC, MidWest Displays, Moneypenny, Ravensworth, Reapit Spark Energy and The Property Academy.

You can find out more about the services offered by Reeds Rains in Northern Ireland by visiting Reeds Rains online at www.reedsrains.co.uk or contacting your local branch. Make sure you also follow Reeds Rains on Facebook and Twitter @reedsrains for the latest in property news.

For press enquiries please contact:
Alice Maynard, Marketing & PR Executive [email protected] www.reedsrains.co.uk
PHOTO DETAILS: Left to right Matthew Pinsent, Nadine Laffoley (Lettings Trainer), Sarah Pollard (Lettings Centre Manager) and Nick Leeming Commercial Director at Zoopla.
Reeds Rains Limited, Registered Number Company No. 02568254. VAT No. 842795983
Registered Office: Ground Floor, Buildmark House, George Cayley Drive, Clifton Moor, York, YO30 4XE.