An estate agency with nine branches in Cumbria and north Lancashire has scooped a major national award.

Hackney & Leigh has been named the 2023 Best Estate Agency in the UK in the category for brands with six-20 branches.

The independent and family-run sales and lettings agency has branches in Ambleside, Arnside, Carnforth, Grange-over-Sands, Kendal, Keswick, Kirkby Lonsdale, Penrith and Windermere.

The award was made at the estate agency event of the year, The EA Masters, in London, where the winners of this year’s Best Estate Agent Guide Awards were announced.

The achievement caps a momentous year for Hackney & Leigh, which picked up an award for North West Family Business of the Year in May and celebrated its 40th anniversary in August.

“I’m not really sure how we’re going to top this year and in particular this award,” said operations director Simon Leigh.

“The whole team is so proud of this achievement, and rightly so, as it really couldn’t have been done without them. It is a fantastic reward for all the hard work everyone puts in.

“We hope we offer our clients the very best service, achieving the best results possible for them, but to be independently assessed and have it confirmed that we are the best in the country is truly amazing.”

Hackney and Leigh has now appeared in the Best Estate Agent Guide Award for five consecutive years. This year the company has received Gold Awards for both its sales and lettings services, meaning it is ranked in the top two per cent of agents nationwide.

More than 21,000 estate agents from more than 15,000 different brands were assessed as part of the awards process. More than 2.2 million bits of sales data and 1.7m bits of lettings data were analysed. The top third of the agencies based on this analysis went on to receive a comprehensive marketing assessment and ‘mystery shop’, conducted by independent, specialist firms commissioned by EA Masters.