Butters John Bee is celebrating after winning the gold award as the number one auction house in the country at The Times and The Sunday Times’ Estate Agency of the Year 2014 awards.

The Auction Estate Agency of the Year 2014 award capped off a fantastic 2014 for the local estate agent and auctioneer.

Craig Meredith, branch manager at Butters John Bee, Northwich, said: “We were extremely delighted to have received the award.

“It (2014) was a great year for us, as we won other local and regional awards (including gold, silver and bronze successes at the ESTAS awards, sponsored by Zoopla). But to be recognised as the best in the country from such a prestigious body is fantastic.

“We sold almost 700 lots through the year at auction – more than £50,000,000 worth of property – again cementing our position among the very biggest auction houses in the whole country.

“And this year has already started strongly, with more than 80 per cent of the lots offered at our January sale sold.”

The awards are chaired by The Property Ombudsman and have the backing of the National Association of Estate Agents and National Federation of Property Professionals, making them among the most prestigious awards available.

The judges comprise highly experienced property professionals – including leading agents together with other industry experts and specialists – all of whom have the experience of seeing numerous different agencies over many years.

And they praised Butters John Bee for its efforts to make auctions accessible to everyone, its excellent sold success rate and its progressive apprentice scheme, training the next generation of agents.

Butters John Bee also picked up the silver award as the second best estate agent in the whole of the Midlands at the awards ceremony, narrowly missing out on the top spot to an east Midlands firm who also won the Overall Estate Agency of the Year 2014 award.

Lauren Ellison, manager of Butters John Bee’s Winsford office, added: “We are very proud of both awards.

“We regularly feature among the top auctioneers in the country, but to also be voted the number two agent in the whole of the Midlands region for our general work in estate agency proves our ability to give award-winning service to all types of clients.”