Industry Rising Stars award winners: hopefully we’ll get a pay rise now!

Propertymark Qualifications yesterday made an unusual move and gave its 'rising star' award jointly to two estate agency hard grafters. The Negotiator met them.

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Official Properymark Rising Stars of 2019 Heather Fraser and Laura Young had an inkling they might win the accolade after being invited to the House of Parliament yesterday.

But when The Negotiator caught up with the pair after they had received their awards, it clearly hadn’t sunk in yet.

Normally Propertymark awards one person the ‘rising star’ gong each year but this time, there was so little between the two short-listed candidates that instead two people are to share it.

The pair are Heather Fraser (above, left) who is the lettings team leader at the Kilbride branch of The Property Store, and Laura Young (above, right). She is a Senior Property Manager at Newcastle-upon-Tyne firm Pat Robson & Co.

Both said they couldn’t wait to get back to their branch offices to show their colleagues their awards.

Shouting down the phone

“I’ve just phoned my colleagues and told them I’m a winner and they were all screaming and shouting down the phone,” says Heather.

Laura Young said she had planned to go to a museum in London after the awards ceremony with her father but instead they were going to visit a nearby pub to celebrate.

“This Propertymark award means a lot to me because my employer has taken the time to put together the nomination,” says Laura.

But the awards have a serious meaning for the pair. Heather has been in the industry for 15 years and says she took a five-year break from the private rental sector because of the bad practices she came across.

But Heather was enticed back after she realised it had become more qualifications-driven.

Pay rise

Laura says now that she’s won, she’s hoping to go back to her employer and see if she can squeeze a salary raise out of them.

“My employer takes it very seriously and they require staff to attain at least a Level 3 qualification. Once you do achieve that, there are opportunities for promotion,” she says.


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