AN ESTATE agents in Bradford has launched an employee of the year award in memory of a late colleague.

The Vic Southerington Award, which was voted for by employees across the business, was presented by his wife Margaret to Nicola Astley, office manager at the Highfield Road sales branch. Mr Southerington, who sadly passed away in April from Covid-19, started working for Robert Watts in the early 1980s as a Valuer in its first office on Bolton Road.

The Chartered Surveyor went on to work for the Yorkshire Building Society for 20 years, before returning to Robert Watts in 2002. Traditionally the employee of the year award would have been awarded to someone from the most profitable branch. However, it was felt that this did not fit with Mr Southerington's ethos; the award will instead go to an individual who displays the highest level of tenacity and goes above and beyond in the pursuit of excellent customer service, whilst remaining completely selfless throughout.

Director James Watts had worked in partnership with Mr Southerington to successfully expand into surveying, working with organisations such as Halifax Bank of Scotland and Northern Rock. Despite the 2008 recession, Vic continued working at Robert Watts and retrained as a residential and commercial energy performance certificate Assessor, which he continued in a freelance capacity until earlier this year.

James said: “Vic was a great guy, always selfless and would put himself out for anyone who needed help regardless of how busy he was. He would work all hours and always had time for a cup of tea and a chat - his legendary opening line of ‘have you got 5 minutes?’ meant you better clear the diary for the next hour!

“He made lots of friends in the industry throughout his career and was genuinely liked by everyone and will be sadly missed by all of us who met him.”