One of our proudest moments at The ESTAS 2017 was seeing another agent win big!

The ESTAS (Estate & Letting Agent Awards) are the largest and longest standing Industry Awards and (importantly) the only ones decided entirely by the reviews submitted by paying clients (Landlords and/or Sellers) and Tenants from the last 12 months. They give the most accurate insight in to the experiences of the people who truly matter to your business.

Importantly, the way they are structured, it means that single-office operations like us from up & down the UK can challange the might of giant corporates in a battle to see who gives their consumers what they really want- great all-round service.

We have been entering the awards since 2007 and have been delighted (and sometimes amazed) to have won numerous awards and accolades along the way. In recent years this has seen our office ranked as one of the best letting agents in the whole of the UK when we won Gold for Landlords & Silver for Tenants in 2016 and Bronze for Landlords this year. Simply amazing.

Whilst winning is great, for our staff especially, we have always been passionate about driving up standards in our industry. What is more, we truly believe that small operations are the lifeblood of our industry and that letting agents like us are in the best position to give clients exactly what they want- a professional, industry-leading service with a strong personal touch.

All too often, we have spken to letting agents (at The ESTAS and other events) who, because they are small or new, think they have no real place at these awards. Who think that a Shortlist (and please note I am NOT knocking this achievement) is all that they can hope for.

Our amazing success last year proved that this could not be further from the truth. So, at this year's events, one of our proudest moments was to see the incredible success achieved by Plymouth Homes. In 2016 Plymouth Homes shared a table with us and saw, first hand, that you don't have to be big, to win big. You just have to listen to your clients and try to be the best that you can be. So, having won a shortlist in 2016, they set about doing just that.

Fast forward 12 months and Plymouth Homes and they did amazingly- walking away with this year's ESTAS with 3 awards:

Gold- Best Letting Agent for Landlords- South West (Cornwall & Devon)

Gold- Best Letting Agent for Tenants- South West (Cornwall & Devon)

Silver- Best UK Lettings Office for Tenants

At base, we strive to be the best that we can be- but the fact that we can possibly inspire other letting agents to be better, do more and to strive for the accolades they deserve is a special feeling indeed. It is great to see this industry evolve and improve so dramatically in such challenging times and, if we can play just a tiny part in that, then we are very, very happy.

Our heartfelt congratulations to Plymouth Homes and their entire team and every agent that won a shortlist or award recognition at this year's awards. Keep doing what you're doing people- you rock!