OREANDA-NEWS. June 22, 2015. Belvoir Lettings plc (AIM:BLV), one of the UK's largest lettings franchises, is delighted to announce that it has once again won the Gold award for "Lettings Franchise of the Year". This is for a record fifth time and fourth consecutive year.

The Lettings Agency of the Year Awards in association with The Sunday Times & The Times, sponsored by Zoopla, is held in June. It is the longest running event solely focused on lettings, at which the most sought after awards for the industry are presented.

The judging of the Lettings Agent of the Year Awards is chaired by The Property Ombudsman and has the backing of ARLA and NFOPP. Judges include highly experienced property professionals such as leading agents together with other industry experts and specialists.

The judges commented:

"Belvoir is perpetually successful in this category and this is partly due to the continual investment in its audit team, which helps keep standards consistently high. This business operates on a very open basis with the franchisees and the directors making decisions on a fair and moral basis rather than merely for commercial gain. The concept behind the Belvoir franchise offering is straightforward: highly trained local experts are placed into offices and given exceptional support from Central Office. The support and training they receive enables owners to grow successful businesses with valuable long-term assets. During the first six months, franchise owners are assigned a Business Development Manager who assists with all aspects of their business. The panel spoke to a number of franchisees, all of whom reinforced the message from central office. Without exception they feel that the assistance and support they receive is exceptional, yet they also enjoy high levels of autonomy so they have a free hand to run their own businesses. Belvoir fully deserves the Gold award for the fourth year running."

Mike Goddard, Chairman and CEO commented:

"Winning this award yet again demonstrates Belvoir's ability to meet and exceed the expectations of our clients, maintaining exceptionally high customer service standards and also supporting our franchisees so they are best equipped to achieve the most out of the Belvoir brand. We are very honoured that we have been recognised for this award for another year and look forward to continuing to demonstrate the key strengths of the business."