On Friday 10th of March, hundreds of property professionals from international premium estate agency, Fine & Country, gathered in London for the annual conference and awards celebration. The Fine & Country Conference provided the opportunity for delegates to learn from each other by discussing the latest developments in estate agency, listen to keynote speakers and to meet the industry suppliers who support the house selling and buying industry.
The event culminated in a lavish awards ceremony attended by delegates from around the globe to recognise exceptional achievements for various offices, teams, and individuals within the Fine & Country international network – sponsored by The Sunday Times.
This year, the inaugural Napoleon Wilcox Award was made in memory of the much respected and loved Fine & Country colleague who sadly passed away last year. Himself an outstanding contributor to both the sector and the brand, the award has been created in Napoleon’s name to publicly acknowledge an individual’s outstanding contribution to Fine & Country worldwide and involved a rigorous selection and judging procedure.
The award was presented by Managing Director of Webbers Fine & Country and long-time close friend of Napoleon, Malcolm Prescott. Speaking about the award and his friend, Prescott said: “This was an extremely emotional but important day to remember Napoleon at the prestigious Fine & Country Awards dinner and his wonderful children Warwick and Ella were both thankful and touched that their father has been remembered in this way. Napoleon was instrumental in ensuring that the 14 strong office network of Webbers Property Services were early adopters of Fine & Country, such was his belief in the brand and the potential that he could clearly see some years ago. As a long-standing member of the National Advisory Council (NAC), Napoleon was entrenched in the Fine & Country business, making genuinely great friends with the group and he will be greatly missed by all at Webbers and Fine & Country. The recipient of this award, like Napoleon, has shown great commitment to the Fine & Country brand and service and a recognition that is richly deserved.”
Chairman of the Fine & Country NAC, Graham Wilson, said: “This was a very emotional award especially for those on the NAC who witnessed and shared Napoleon’s dedication and affection for the brand over many years. From the nominations the NAC spent just under two hours debating the shortlist reflecting the passion of how Napoleon would have wanted the winner to be chosen. I was proud to stand on stage alongside Malcolm and Nicky to share the moment and present our first award that will continue the memory of our friend.”
Nicky Stevenson, Managing Director of Fine & Country, said: “Napoleon Wilcox was always eager to share his knowledge and help those around him. This award is a way for us to honour his memory and carry on the legacy he left at Fine & Country.”
The award was open to literally thousands of Fine & Country colleagues working within the international brand, which includes 14 counties such as Australia, France, Germany, Mauritius, Portugal, Spain, and South Africa – most of whom were represented at the ceremony. There were over 60 nominations worldwide for this particular award and just five made the shortlist – all were named and accredited on the day. While just making the shortlist was truly outstanding achievement, there could be only one winner, which was Sue Gipson from Fine & Country St Neots.
Sue, who has worked at Fine & Country for over 18 years, was clearly overwhelmed but delighted to have been chosen, saying: “I simply could not believe it when my name was announced. It means such a lot to be recognised by fellow professionals from around the world in this way and I’m immensely proud to be the very first winner of this fantastic award. I congratulate all those who were nominated and shortlisted and want to thank everyone in the Fine & Country team for the brilliant support they provide.”
Senior Branch Manager at Fine & Country, Richard Carpenter, said: “Sue is the very epitome of what Fine & Country is all about – super high quality customer care and above all, achieving outstanding results for our clients. She really is someone very special and totally deserves this award. It’s an honour to work alongside her.”
