Independent estate agents across the South West of England were recognised for their hard work and success at an annual regional awards evening recently.

The Experts in Property, a network of independent estate agents, recently held its annual awards event via Zoom, attended by its network of member agents in Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset and Bristol.

There were seven awards categories, and the winners are:

Best Trained Agency Staff

+ Joint Gold winners – Westcoast Properties (five branches across Bristol & Somerset), and Woods Bryce Baker in Paignton.

+ Silver winner – Falcon Properties in Plymouth.

Customer Service

Joint Gold winners – Whitton & Laing in Exeter and Exmouth; and Falcon Properties in Plymouth.

Joint Silver winners – Julie Copsey from Woods in Kingsteignton; Roger Hemming Estate Agents in Honiton; Robert Williams Estate Agents in Exeter; and Westcoast Properties branch in Burnham on Sea.

Best Use of Social Media

Gold winner – View Property in Launceston and Tavistock.

Silver winner – Gibbins Richards Estate Agents (three branches in Somerset).

Most Improved Use of Social Media

+ Gold winner – Parkers’ Estate Agents in Backwell, Bristol.

+ Silver winner – Roger Hemming Estate Agents in Honiton.

Charity Award

Joint Gold Winners – Alex Hill, director of Meyers’ Poole branch, who trekked 100k across the Sahara and took part in the Bournemouth Half Marathon in aid of Dorset’s disability charity, Diverse Abilities. And James Jackson and David Giles, directors of Meyers in Bournemouth, who have raised up to £3,000 every year since 2017 for two local Cancer charities, Macmillan Caring Locally and The Isabel Baker Foundation.

Silver winner – Robert Williams, owner of Robert Williams Estate Agents in Exeter. Robert and his partner Meg walked 21 Dartmoor Tors in 2021, raising more than £3,600 for FORCE Cancer Charity, supporting people in the Exeter area with Cancer.

Community Award

Gold winner – Stevens’ Estate Agents in Okehampton.

Silver winner – Woods Estate Agents in Paignton and Chudleigh.

Highly commended – Parker’s in Backwell, Bristol; Gibbins Richards in Somerset and View Property in Launceston and Tavistock.

And there was one Special Charity Award, presented to Joseph Jordan, negotiator at Woods Bryce Baker in Paignton. Last year Joseph lost a friend, who was just 21 years old, to suicide. Deeply saddened, Joseph and other friends and family of his friend, formed a team to join the fight for suicide prevention. They completed the Three Peaks Challenge raising more than £34,000 in the young man’s memory for Movember, and the team is planning more fundraising activities, including a week-long cycling challenge and a Charity Ball for the same cause.

Steve Moir, chairman of the Experts in Property, said: “I’m really pleased that we decided to focus on the more personable, community and people-led aspects of agency for the awards this year.

“Yes, the role of estate and lettings agencies is to sell and let properties, and our experience and training empowers us with the knowledge to do that with the upmost professionalism. But the way to most successfully achieving that has shifted.

“Agency is about people and trust, and just lately the use of technology and automisation has been leading the industry to becoming less about people and more about just getting homes sold and let.

“The last 18 months or so in particular have reinforced to us the values of community, people and trust and our most successful agencies are those which play an integral part within their local communities, engaging with neighbours, community groups and generally being ingrained in society – not even necessarily as estate agents, but as people. And this is greatly influencing the way we engage with our audiences on social media too. We have some real community champions within the membership and we are extremely proud to recognise that.”