After 25 years of successfully running their property business in Staffordshire, the husband and wife team of Adrian and Jo Walton were named the recipients of the 2024 Belvoir Lifetime Achievement Award. Every year, this prestigious gong is presented to one franchise owner within the Belvoir network as recognition for their excellent on-going contribution to the brand.
Adrian and Jo opened their business in 1999 and Belvoir’s franchise director Ian Maclean paid tribute to their outstanding work during the past quarter of a century. He said: “I am delighted that this year’s Belvoir Lifetime Achievement Award has gone to Adrian and Jo Walton.
“They have both consistently been amazing ambassadors for brand Belvoir since they started trading. They have thrown themselves into every opportunity that Belvoir has offered, including sales and financial services.
“Their offices in Stafford and Stone have won many awards over the years and, in December 2023, they scooped the top prize at the All-Agents Customer Experience Awards in Glasgow. Adrian and Jo are highly deserving of the title, and we wish them every success for the future.”
Speaking after the presentation, Adrian said: “It was totally unexpected, but we are delighted to be recognised for the work we have done. This year we are celebrating 25 years in business, so to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award in our special anniversary year is even better.
“Back in 1999 we were a cold start, working from home with zero properties on the books. We would often sit there looking at the phone, and willing it to ring. We built up the business, specialising in ‘buy to let’. We made an acquisition in 2006 and developed a great team of people around us.
“There are 10 team members nowadays, plus Jo and I. We have two offices: one in Stafford, and the other in Stone. We have a good number of managed and let-only properties, plus a fast-growing sales business.”
Adrian paid a special tribute to the contribution made by his business partner and wife Jo. He added: “I was in the Army reserves for 42 years, and only retired from this activity two years ago.
“Because of this commitment, I was away quite a lot and wasn’t always available to talk things through with Jo. But she is incredibly capable, and always managed to deal with everything very efficiently.”
And the Staffordshire-based company is certainly a family-run business, with their son Oliver also involved in day-to-day duties. Adrian went on: “Oliver works with us now, and still lives at home. This means he’s also around to talk things through if needed. And it is great to get a younger perspective on business ideas.
“Jo and I have always enjoyed getting involved and giving something back to Belvoir. We’ve both been members of various working groups over the years. Jo is predominantly on the insurance working group, but also contributes to the software working group. And I have previously chaired the West Midlands BNG and the Belvoir National Franchise Group.
“We have always been great supporters of Central Office activities. We may sometimes have had different opinions about things, but I have always found that if you can contribute ideas, you eventually get to where you want to be so much quicker.
“We believe that good customer service is vital, and we were delighted when both Stafford and Stone won Gold Awards at the All-Agents event in December of last year in Scotland.
“We also recently became signatories of the Armed Forces Covenant Scheme and agree to support those in the Armed Forces. It is amazing to be approaching our 25th anniversary with Belvoir and we look forward to celebrating with the team later in the year.”
About: Belvoir was founded in February 1995, and has its headquarters in Grantham, Lincolnshire. The company operates a nationwide property franchise group, with over 500 offices across numerous brands. These include Belvoir, Northwood, Newton Fallowell, Lovelle, Nicholas Humphreys and Mr and Mrs Clarke. They also own Brook Financial Services. Belvoir now manage more than 70,000 properties across the UK and, in February 2012, were successfully listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange. In March 2024, the Belvoir Group merged with The Property Franchise Group.
