VAUGHAN and Sally Schofield of Belvoir Wrexham are celebrating after winning Belvoir’s prestigious Gold Award for Franchise of the Year.

“We were very surprised to win, and absolutely delighted to have done so,” said Vaughan.

“At the end of the day, we don’t do this job to win awards, we do it because we want to do it to the best of our ability, but to win a prestigious award like this is a fantastic bonus.

“The past two years have been amazing for Belvoir Wrexham. The previous year was our best ever by some margin. We grew the business by over 25% compared to the previous year and this year, although we knew it would be challenging, we managed a further 11% growth, so it was another record year, achieved purely through organic growth.

“There is no doubt that entering into sales has been very good for us. It made perfect sense to do so, because this business is very cyclical, so when lettings is doing well the sales side might not be, and when sales are doing well the lettings market may drop off. For us, it is commercially logical for our Belvoir business to have a foot in both areas of the property business, as it helped to spread the risks.

“Sally and I are very grateful to our team for everything we do, and it would be impossible for us to achieve what we have without their fantastic work ethic and enthusiasm. They are very knowledgeable, but knowledge without the right work ethic to deliver it would be wasted and they have been unbelievably supportive, sometimes volunteering to give their own time to do things — which I would never ask them to do — but it’s just an example of their commitment.

“We have a work “WhatsApp” group, and so I texted the team on the night of the awards, together with a picture of the award and a thank you - they were over the moon. We are taking the entire team out for an all-expenses paid meal and drinks later this week just to show our gratitude for everything they do.

“As a franchise Belvoir has provided me with definite parameters to run my business, but these parameters are so wide that they have allowed me to run my business as I want to. The rules are clear, but every day I can wake up and enjoy the feeling that I am going into work to run my own business, and I think this has contributed to our success.

“Our business is ten years old this year, and we have had amazing support over the past decade. I always felt that Belvoir Central Office has invested in me and the training they provided at the offset prepared me for what lay ahead. Over the years both my team and ourselves have attended many of the Belvoir training courses and I have got to know the franchise support team well. It’s a great feeling to be able to pick up the ‘phone at any time and use the franchise support team as a sounding board and to get expert advice.

“My wife Sally has been fantastic, and can do every job in this office extremely well. I have a very narrow skill base, and therefore her contribution is pivotal. Without her, none of this would have been possible. We have been fortunate enough to have won many awards over the past ten years, but winning Belvoir Franchise of the Year is a real jewel in the crown.”