About us
Our awards
Lettings Agency of the Year - Outstanding Contribution - 2011
Lucy Morton
With a career spanning nearly 30 years, Lucy Morton is a deserving winner of this award and we are thrilled to honour her publicly, not only for her own personal achievements but also for the dedication, loyalty and diligence she has shown to our industry.
Having started as a lettings agent in 1983, Lucy established the lettings department for WA Ellis in 1990 and since then has built the department team into an award winning, market leader.
On record as saying, “[she] wanted to put something back into the industry that has served me so well for many years”, Lucy was elected to the board of NFOPP in 2007 and appointed President of ARLA in 2009 after 17 years as a Regional Council Member and subsequently a National Council Member.
During her year long term as President of ARLA, Lucy focused much of her time encouraging the government to regulate the industry as well as calling for clarity on proposed legislation to ensure transparency and understanding for both landlords and tenants. Under Lucy’s tenure, ARLA also launched their licensing scheme and to date have over 6,000 licensed members, the same number of which also signed up to The Property Ombudsman, results which speak for themselves as to the success of the campaign.
Lucy recognised that in order for the industry to change the perception of itself with the public, agents and agencies had to want to regulate themselves. Having spent much of her time as President travelling the country and meeting with ARLA members, she was able to speak to them directly about her vision for the future of industry standards; a view which she found was shared by many; all of whom were prepared to ‘put their money where their mouth is’ and open themselves up to regulation. This desire amongst the industry itself to strive for higher and consistent standards can only mean great things for lettings agencies, landlords and tenants nationwide. The work put in by Lucy, her colleagues at ARLA and the agencies to achieve this must not be underestimated.
Since completing her tenure as President of ARLA Lucy has not rested on her laurels and now sits on the boards of both the new Register of Property Agents and the Property Standards Board. She is also a Board Director of CLEA (Central London Estate Agents) as the representative for Lettings, a Director of Lonres, a subscription service for agents in London and a Trustee of EAF (Estate Agency Foundation), the industry charity which is dedicated to combating the causes of homelessness.
It is testimony to Lucy’s ongoing dedication to the industry she has served admirably over the past 28 years that despite the time she spends lobbying and sitting on various regulatory boards she remains as passionate about the grass roots of lettings as she ever was - her recent promotion to senior partner of WA Ellis reinforces this. Lucy Morton embodies everything which is excellent about our industry and her passion and vision is aspirational.
Lettings Agency of the Year - UK Single Office - 2011
GOLD - Best Single Office Lettings Agency
This agency really stands out as a business which is setting an example to the industry as a “how to” in lettings. Competing in one of the most exclusive and discerning lettings markets in the world, it shows a level of expertise which is breathtaking and punches above its weight at every level. The team are extremely experienced and from the directors down, everyone is hands-on throughout the entire lettings process. Two way communication and dialogue between the team and clients is actively encouraged and tenants and landlords can rest assured they receive advice and information of the highest standards; this approach is proven via the outstanding renewal and referral rates. W.A. Ellis is an agency which offers big office services with a bespoke personal touch and the judges felt that customers are in the best possible hands with them.
Lettings Agency of the Year - Single Office London - 2011
GOLD - Best Single Office London Lettings Agency
W.A. Ellis offers an extremely high standard of service to a very discerning client base. Every valuation appointment is attended by at least one partner, if not two which can only mean clients are receiving the very best advice from extremely experienced professionals. High levels of communication and personal service throughout the whole lettings process ensures great client retention rates. They simply don’t lose clients. W.A. Ellis is the largest lettings team under one roof in London and the personal service combined with the vast experience of partners and staff attracts lots of referrals. Employee retention is high, due in no small part to the excellent training programme. Their success is down to honesty, integrity and knowledge. Delivery of a personal service and superior advice to clients shines through and results in it being instructed on some of the most expensive rental stock in the UK.
Lettings Agency of the Year - Luxury Lettings - 2011
GOLD - Best Luxury Lettings
Congratulations must go to W.A. Ellis for winning the gold in this category for the second year running. Its luxury lettings offering remains simply outstanding and the judges were impressed with the efforts made by the entire team to go even further in their customer service standards. The luxury lettings department is a niche division in the agency and the small team are all directly involved in every aspect of the daily running of this service. The expertise of the staff is impressive at this level and strong emphasis is placed on professional qualifications, communication and partner level involvement – with these caveats in mind, two partners inspect each property every time. Operating in the high end market which is London based luxury lettings, there is a vital understanding of overseas links and specialist services are offered to both overseas landlords and those tenants looking to immigrate as well as those who are home grown. Very, very impressive indeed.
Lettings Agency of the Year - Property Management - 2011
Lettings Agency of the Year - Customer Service - 2011
Negotiator - Agency Leader of the Year 2010
LUCY MORTON
Lucy Morton is queen of prime property lettings in Central London. The Managing Partner of W A Ellis and former President of the Association of Residential Lettings Agents (ARLA) has worked in the industry for over 20 years. During this time she has grown her original staff of two into a 19-strong team managing a current capital value of over £600m on behalf of private clients and trusts.
Morton was promoted to Managing Partner in 2006 and is now involved in the strategic development of the firm, as well as its social media strategy. At ARLA she championed hard to raise standards throughout the lettings sector, introducing a licensing scheme as she lobbied government to introduce regulation.Morton’s team holds her in high esteem for her professionalism and knowledge as well as her approachability and support. The panel praised her dynamic and inspirational approach to business, which is why she beat Chard Robinson partners Stephen Chard and Neil Robinson, Hunters’ Kevin Hollinrake, LSL’s David Newnes, Marsh & Parsons’ Peter Rollings and Century 21’s Stuart White to win the award crown.
One judge says: “She’s done wonders for ARLA during her presidency and has built her own firm into a real force to be reckoned with.” Another says: “She’s an outstanding woman, who has achieved remarkable success.”Morton says: “I was absolutely thrilled and proud to win the Leader of the Year Award – it really is a huge honour”.
“I am very fortunate to have a wonderful team around me here and my position within ARLA gives me the opportunity to really try to put something back into the sector and promote professionalism.”
Estate Agency of the Year - Single Office London - 2010
GOLD - Best Single Office London Estate Agency of the Year
This long established Knightsbridge firm more than holds its weight against bigger name estate agency chains in their area. The vast experience of their long serving team coupled with their honest and open approach with clients is the key to their success. The entire team demonstrate fantastic commitment and understanding across the breadth of the business - the judges were particularly impressed with their high quality, structured approach to dealing with new potential vendors and the hands-on approach of the partners.
Estate Agency of the Year - UK Single Office - 2010
GOLD - UK Best Single Office Agency of the Year
An exciting and dynamic business which punches above its weight to compete with some big brands in its area. Clever use of marketing gives the impression of a much larger agency and communicates an expert team that is able offer an experienced, bespoke and personal service.WA Ellis has demonstrated a consistent commitment to service and innovation, giving them the cutting edge in what is an incredibly competitive market place. It is apparent that the entire company has a very can-do approach and are continually improving; offering extraordinarily high levels of customer service. From mystery shop results to market share and high standards of marketing and promotion this business is well deserving of this gold award.
Estate Agency of the Year - Customer Service - 2010
SILVER - Best Estate Agency Customer Service
During a period when many estate agents were making cutbacksWA Ellis made a huge investment in improving their service standards. The staff received external training on how to succeed in a more difficult housing market and many business processes were redesigned, for example, prior to every valuation the valuer will carry out a land registry search, research the property’s planning history and obtain comprehensive comparable evidence in order to ensure the most accurate valuation. Service standards are monitored using QMS procedures and service questionnaires and the team constantly step outside the normal realms of customer care to get the job done including a senior partner personally removing an unwanted piano from a property to enable a speedy completion. The greatest testament to WA Ellis’ service standards though is the very high number of repeat and recommendation clients and the fact that they have won significant market share and maintained their profitability during the downturn.
