Awards celebrate region’s thriving property industry

The outstanding achievements, talent and hard work of those operating in the property industry were honoured at Insider's South East Property Awards 2022, with the firms and individuals who have excelled over the past year all being recognised. The event – held last night at Crowne Plaza Felbridge - Gatwick – was sponsored by Carpenter Box, Close Brothers Property Finance and Lewis Denley Solicitors. Coverage of the awards will also feature in the next issue of the South East Business Insider magazine.

Specialist Consultancy of the Year Award
Winner: Ridge and Partners
Ridge and Partners offers a wide range of disciplines including architecture, cost management, building services engineering, civil and structural engineering, as well as town and country planning from four offices in the South East. The judges were particularly impressed with its commitment to carbon neutrality across the business, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption to achieve this.
Shortlisted:
DHA Planning
Flude Property Consultants

Fitout/Refurbishment of the Year Award
Winner: Saxon Weald HQ, Horsham, West Sussex (Office Principles)
Saxon Weald House, the headquarters of housing association Saxon Weald, has been successfully transformed into a modern, hybrid, flexible workspace, offering a unique experience for employees and customers alike. The judges commented that the scheme's industry-leading environmental credentials, such as the divergence of 100 per cent of waste from landfill through strict waste management, set it apart.
Highly commended: Winchester Hospice, Burrell House (Ridge and Partners)
Shortlisted:
The Forge, Woking, Surrey (V7)
FSP Office in Now Building, Reading (Office Principles)
American Express HQ, Brighton (Workplace Creations)

Property Law Firm of the Year Award
Winner: Lewis Denley Solicitors
Established just five years ago, Lewis Denley Solicitors has proved to be something of a disruptor in the market, especially with its legal tech innovations. The firm has developed its own software to move the legal process away from paper into the digital age, which has been welcomed by property developers, landlords and professionals in the sector and greatly impressed the judges.
Shortlisted:
PDT Solicitors
DMH Stallard
Thomson Snell & Passmore

Residential Development of the Year Award
Sponsored by Close Brothers Property Finance
Winner: Bradbury View, Winchester (Trinity Winchester; Bentley Projects; Hyphen; Ridge and Partners)
Bradbury View is a complex comprising 12 bedsit-style apartments that have been created for homeless people, helping them to transition away from sleeping rough. The judges were hugely impressed with the social value of the scheme that the project team offered many of its services for free and completed it on time, within budget and to a very high standard.
Highly commended: Church Farm, Radley, Oxfordshire (Pye Homes; Blenheim Estates)
Shortlisted:
All Saints Gardens, Merstham, Surrey (Earlswood Homes)
Regency Grange, Tunbridge Wells, Kent (Countryside)

Agency of the Year Award
Winner: Lambert Smith Hampton
LSH's south coast team completed 85 deals across the region in 2021, totalling more than 1.4m sq ft in offices and industrial spaces. The firm focuses on helping clients with a suite of integrated services including sourcing, planning, advising and managing, properties. The judges noted that LSH were particularly strong in developing job-creating schemes.
Shortlisted:
SHW
Vail Williams

Commercial Development of the Year Award
Sponsored by Carpenter Box
Winner: Here + Now campus, Thames Valley Park, Reading (v7; BauMont Real Estate Capital)
Here + Now is a retrofit of two existing office buildings on Thames Valley Park, comprising 145,000 sq ft of highly sustainable workspace, providing occupiers with a high specification, amenity-rich, service-orientated workspace. The judges felt the focus on bringing a full ESG offer to the business park market made this the outstanding development.
Shortlisted:
Circus Street, Brighton (U+I; Brighton & Hove City Council; University of Brighton)
Amazon/IKEA warehouses, Dartford Crossing, Kent (Bericote Properties, Tritax Big Box)

Developer of the Year Award
Winner: Panattoni
Panattoni is the largest speculative developer of new logistics spaces in the South East. Panattoni Park is a £180m investment in Aylsford, Kent. As well as being a significant investor in logistics spaces, the judges were also impressed with the innovation it has created in sustainability and its focus on ESG. 
Shortlisted:
Bellway London
Earlswood Homes
Countryside

Property Deal of the Year Award
Sponsored by Lewis Denley Solicitors
Winner: Funding for The Landing, Maidenhead (Get Living; HUB; Smedvig; Knight Frank; Savills)
HUB agreed a £155m deal with Get Living to forward fund the first phase of a scheme to revitalise central Maidenhead. This will deliver 429 homes and 23,000 sq ft of ground floor retail, as well as car parking and extensive new public realm. The judges felt that the funding shows a vote of confidence in the build-to-rent market and is therefore the stand-out deal of the year.
Shortlisted:
Sale of former Gatwick Coach Centre to DTZ Investors (Vail Williams)
Purchase of former ToysRUs site (for Maritime Gateway development) (Packaged Living; Fiera Real Estate)
Letting of St. Modwen Park, Basingstoke to LevertonHELM (St Modwen Logistics)
Letting of Queen Square House, Brighton to Instant Managed Offices (SHW)
Letting of Centron, Manor Royal, Crawley to Wine Box Company (Vail Williams)
Acquisition of Debenhams site in Hastings by Moxie (Grant Saw Solicitors)