Property consultancy Vail Williams has been crowned Professional Services Firm of the Year at this year’s ‘virtual’ Gatwick Diamond Business Awards.
The prestigious Gatwick Diamond Business Awards were announced on 3 December at a ground-breaking ‘Putting on the BIZ’ event, compered by well-known TV personality and author, Gyles Brandreth.
Now in their 12th year, the awards are the highlight of the Gatwick business calendar, and were supported this year several headline sponsors, including Crawley Borough Council, Gatwick Airport, NatWest, Thakeham Group and Extech Cloud.
The awards celebrate the achievements of individual businesses and business people across a wide range of categories. Importantly, they also showcase the success of the Gatwick Diamond economic area as major driver of the regional and national economies.
Vail Williams, which has offices on Gatwick Road, Crawley, was awarded Professional Services Firm of the Year 2020, sponsored by Crawley Borough Council.
The firm provided a comprehensive written submission supported by clear evidence and case studies, and were paid a visit before lockdown by judge, Lynn Hainge, economic regeneration manager at Crawley Borough Council.
Commenting, she said: “The competition was incredibly strong in this category, but we felt that Vail Williams just had ‘the edge ’ – both in terms of their impact here in the Gatwick Diamond region and their professional focus on supporting the lifecycle of their clients’ property needs. Excellent local knowledge equals excellent service provision and Vail Williams really do have this in abundance. Our congratulations go out to Vail Williams on this well-deserved business accolade.”
Judges were also particularly impressed by Vail Williams’ strong emphasis on promoting staff welfare and CPD, evidenced by good staff retention levels and their Gold Investors in People accreditation.
Jeff Alexander, chief executive of Gatwick Diamond Business, added: “Congratulations to gdb members, Vail Williams, on winning the Gatwick Diamond business Award for Professional Services Firm of the Year 2020 sponsored by Crawley Borough Council. It is traditionally a popular and very hard-fought category and this year was no exception.
“As the independent judges recognised, Vail Williams are a huge asset to the Gatwick Diamond region. Their excellent local knowledge and service standards help underpin our economy and will be more important than ever in meeting the property needs of our businesses through the recovery and beyond.’
Vail Williams, which specialises in full-service commercial and residential property advice, ‘attended’ the event virtually, with three colleagues enjoying a socially distanced black-tie dinner together at the office, replete with champagne to celebrate their win.
The firm’s regional managing partner, Danny George, commented: “We are absolutely delighted to have won this award, particularly against such well-respected competition. The award itself not only underpins our core values, it comes at a time that fully recognises the efforts of our team, who throughout 2020 have continued to provide vital support to clients during such unprecedented times. From all of us, thank you!”
A total of 17 awards were given out at this year’s highly innovative ‘virtual’ ceremony, which was organised by Gatwick Diamond Business with the help of staging design & AV technology sponsor, Avensys.
