Better Business Awards NSW/ACT winners revealed!

More than 700 members of the industry tuned in to the virtual awards show* to watch the 150 finalists across NSW and the ACT battle it out for the 21 coveted awards.

With live-crosses to winners and entertainment from Bob Downe (actor and broadcaster Mark Trevorrow), the Better Business Awards NSW/ACT provided light relief to those in lockdown, with viewers tuning in from home, the office, and while (socially distanced) picnicking in the park.

Experity Capital broker John Encina took home two awards on the evening, being named Best Finance Broker and – as the highest-scored individual broker winner – the overall winner of Broker of the Year NSW/ACT.

Kris Menon of Origin Finance was crowned the Best Residential Broker in NSW/ACT for 2021, building on his 2020 win for customer service.

Representing the ACT broker industry, Deanna Ezzy from More Than Mortgages was named the Best Regional Broker this year, in recognition of her successful growth and dedication to customers across the territory over the past year.

Alycia Inglis, broker and director at Darlinghurst-based brokerage Stoneturn, was celebrated for her dedication to customer service as the broker with the Best Customer Service.

BDM-turned-broker Anusha Haran of One Stop Loans celebrated a double win, being named Rising Star and Wellness Advocate of the Year.

Another lender-turned-broker was celebrated for their work establishing themselves as a new broker, with Smartline’s Xia Xia Yu championed as the Best Newcomer.

North-Sydney brokerage Peasy had two reasons to celebrate as well, with its co-founders each winning an award. Amanda Christmann was named the Best Loan Administrator for NSW/ACT, in recognition of her work supporting the team and ensuring the smooth running of the business, while her husband (and director and broker at Peasy), Joel Wyld, was named this year’s Editor’s Choice in recognition of his financial and property investment education and strong customer buy-in.

Meanwhile, Solutions2you founder Cathy Dimarchos was crowned as the Mentor of the Year this year, celebrating her holistic business solutions and wellness focus.

As well as highlighting the achievements of brokers, the Better Business Awards NSW/ACT also commended business development managers (BDMs) for all they do behind the scenes to support their broker partners.

Tes Anderson from Bankwest was named the Best Lender BDM (bank) for her work in supporting brokers, while Ben Howell at Prospa won the same award in the non-bank category for the second year in a row.

In the Best Aggregator BDM award, it was outsource Financial’s Heather Gallagher who was crowned the best broker supporter in NSW and the ACT.

Group awards

Outside of the individual categories, group awards championed the work of the collective.

The St Leonards office of Zippy Financial, headed up by broker Louisa Sanghera, was awarded the trophy for Best Customer Service (Office).

Meanwhile, Mortgage Choice Neutral Bay, headed up by Stephen Lemm, was the Best Branded Office this year.

In the Best Independent Office categories, Home Loan Experts was named as the best large independent office (more than 5 brokers) for the second year in a row, while Jordan Beh’s Insight Property Finance won the award for the same category in 5 brokers or less.

Ulladulla-based brokerage South Coast Business & Financial Solutions, headed up by Tony Cottam and Karen Bashford represented the regions with the win of Best Regional Office. 

Benevolence Financial Group, a social enterprise that donates a proportion of its commissions to help build affordable housing for families in need, was this year’s Best Community Engagement Program 

This year’s Best New Office in NSW/ACT went to Loan Base, run by JJ Fiasson and Chris Gillis.

Congratulations to all the winners!

Better Business Summit Sydney – postponed to December

The Sydney Better Business Summit will be held as an in-person conference on Tuesday, 14 December.

Themed “Better Connected”, over the course of the conference, brokers will hear inspiring stories of resilience and fortitude – with keynote speakers Saroo Brierley telling his incredible and moving story of reconnecting with his biological family in India (on which the movie Lion is based), and Thankyou founder Daniel Flynn demonstrating how perseverance and passion can effect change and turn the business-as-usual model on its head.

As well as providing inspirational and thought-leadership content, the summit will be packed with professional development content.

Broker referral partners (estate agents, buyers agents and accountants) will showcase the key trends they’re seeing in the home-buying journey, and what they most want from their brokers to maximise strategic partnerships.

Local elite brokers will also uncover how they got to where they are now, their tips for success and what they think of the current market.

The Better Business Summit also takes into consideration the importance of wellness when running a small business, particularly in a COVID-19 environment. Performance and wellness coaches will outline techniques to help brokers connect with their wellbeing so that they can ensure they can outperform competition, engage their intuition, and detox their day for improved work/life balance and increased professional performance.

Find out more about the Better Business Summit and Better Business Awards here.

*The Better Business Awards 2021 NSW/ACT was originally scheduled to take place on 24 June 2021 as an in-person awards ceremony, but was postponed to 29 September once the NSW government announced movement restrictions to curb the spread of Delta outbreak of the COVID-19 virus. The Better Business Summit is planned to take place as an in-person event in December.

The winners of the Better Business Awards for Victoria/Tasmania, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia/Northern Territory have already been announced.

[Related: Better Business Awards 2021 - The Winners]