ABC Business Sales has achieved top billing for Business Brokers at the annual REINZ Awards in a year that represented one of the toughest challenges for the industry as a whole. ABC won three of the five Business Broker awards that were up for grabs at last week’s virtual/online event – making history in two of the categories and placing second in another. ABC’s head office in Auckland took out the big prize of the Large Business Brokerage Award.
The two individual awards picked up by the company represented ‘industry firsts’ for business brokers at these awards.
Linda Harley from Tauranga was the first woman to win the coveted Business Broker Sales Person of the Year. Linda, a specialist Childcare business broker says being the first woman to win this top award means a great deal.
“To be the first woman to achieve this, in what is a very male-dominated profession, is an added bonus and hopefully an inspiration to other women in the industry. I’ve been a finalist in this category for several years so I’m also personally proud to be recognised for the dedication and skill I bring to the profession” says Harley.
Whilst Peter Gouverneur was the first business broker from the Otago region to win at the awards with the Rising Star Award. Born and bred Otago broker, Peter Gouverneur, says he is proud to be making a mark from near the bottom of the country in what is a very competitive industry.
“Business Brokerage is a new career path for me, so this award gives me a huge motivation boost to take things to the next level, especially with the awesome support I get from our ABC team,” says Gouverneur.
Chris Small, managing director of ABC Business Sales, was especially proud of the mark being made on the industry by their two individual winners, and says also winning the award for being the best large brokerage reflected well on the entire team’s efforts.
“The last 12 months with COVID and lockdowns challenges have been some of the toughest on record for the entire industry, so I’m particularly proud of the resilience and effort displayed by all our brokers to win an award that shows we really dug in and completed more deals than our competitors” says Small.
ABC also had some runner ups including Anthony Gilbert in the Sales Person of the Year category and Richard Stevens in the Rising Star category. Plus, both the ABC offices in Waikato and Tauranga also got silver for the Small Business Brokerage Award. Overall, it was a successful night at the REINZ 2021 awards for ABC Business Sales.
