Local estate agents join national award scheme

Squarefoot Estate Agents, the Penarth-based estate agent has joined the Estate & Letting Agent Awards scheme which recognises the best agents based on research conducted through homebuyers and sellers around the country.

The scheme measures the quality of customer service provided by agents through the homebuying and selling process.

Established in 2008, by husband and wife team Derek and Tara Richardson, Squarefoot estate agents has quickly put its stamp on the property market in south Wales.

After developing and managing properties across south Wales for a number of years, the husband and wife team saw a gap in the market for a vibrant addition to the cold and intimidating high street estate agents in south Wales and set up Squarefoot in Penarth.

With over 250 properties on their books, Squarefoot estate agents have both apartments and houses to rent and sell in Penarth, Penarth Marina, Cardiff Bay, Cardiff, Barry and Sully

Phil Spencer, presenter of Channel 4 s Location, Location property programme says: “I’ve been involved with the scheme for six years now and absolutely believe it to be the most relevant in the current market. The fact that customers are the judges and they determine the winners makes the awards unique. The customers are the ones who experience the service levels of the agents on a daily basis, so they are in a unique position to assess their performance.

“Any agent that registers for the scheme is making a public pledge that they are focused on providing the best possible service to their clients whether they be buying, selling or renting through the agent”, says Simon Brown, Managing Director of Awards For Business who run the national scheme. “In a difficult market customers need to be certain agents are working their hardest to earn their fees.”

Derek Richardson, director at Squarefoot Estate Agents, said: “From the outset we have taken our levels of customer service very seriously and we haven’t compromised our service by high volume sales and lettings. Having been a property developer for many years and using a host of different estate agents I know how important it is to find an agent that not only knows there stuff, but is transparent and reliable. We have always been very proud of the personal service we provide and our involvement in these awards is great way to demonstrate how good we really are.”

The national scheme is backed by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). David Dalby, Residential Director at RICS, said “This is the fifth year that RICS have been involved with the awards, which we support because the results are based solely on customer satisfaction rather than the opinions of a judging panel.

“To win an Estate or Letting Agent of the Year Award, a firm has to demonstrate a consistently high level of service and, to achieve this they must ensure that staff follow those standards of efficiency, good communication and transparency that differentiate the exceptional agent from the ordinary one.”

For further information on this press release, please contact freshbaked PR at pr@freshbaked.co.uk. freshbaked PR is a Cardiff based public relations agency which represents a number of private and public sector organisations in the Cardiff, Swansea and Bristol business communities, as well as Newport in south Wales, home of golf’s 2010 Ryder Cup at the Celtic Manor Resort Hotel. For clients based in Cardiff PR agency services are provided from the Head Office in The Maltings.