The OPP Awards for Excellence 2010: Winners announced

This year, we have decided to include a small exert from the judge's remarks to highlight the qualities of each winner.

Best Developer International: Invest in Brazil for Tambaba Country Club Resort, Paraiba, Brazil  

“Invest in Brazil is an international project anchored locally, where the mix between residential and tourist development is magnificent. The attention to detail and no doubt the time, effort and money spent in gaining SIPP compliance, in doing transparent due diligence, in stepping into the shoes of the purchaser, and in identifying and mitigating risk was truly impressive. This is clearly an excellent development with sound partners acting with experience and ethics. A worthy winner.” 
 

Best Marketing Campaign: Graham Associates  

“Graham Associates' marketing campaign is what I call a 360 degree communication scheme combining a unique insight into their customers' lives with clever execution and emotive branding. This is an innovative, stylish, creative and informative marketing campaign which is, without doubt, a worthy winner of the OPP Gold Award for Excellence 2010.” 

Best Lawyer: Chebsey & Co  

“This is a company that has clearly thought everything through properly. It has every possible system and service in place to meet the needs of the international property industry, and you know that it will do it with ease and professionalism. A first-class entry and, surely, a lawyer that it must be very easy to work with.” 

Best Innovation: AlmaVerde Village & Spa  

“The Coolhouse system implemented by AlmaVerde is very relevant to our environmentally-friendly times in terms of its ecological benefits and sustainable nature. The idea appeals not only to responsible purchasers but also takes full notice of imminent legislative changes.” 

Best Fractional Service: Best Group  

“It is not often that you come across a company that clearly knows its market as well as the Best Group. Their whole awards submission conveys a depth of understanding. The company also has a blue chip customer base that would impress anybody. Clearly the Best Group is a leader in its sector.” 

Best Fractional Product: Absolute Nakalay Beach Resort  

“With fractional being a lifestyle sell, the discerning fractional buyer will look for more than just shared ownership of an asset … they will want access to a range of products and services. And Absolute Nakalay delivers that in abundance with golf club hire, motorboat access, exchange programmes and all the mod cons and guest services that you could hope for.” 

Best Online Service:  Holidaylettings.co.uk  

“ Holidaylettings.co.uk  has created a fantastic website which is informative, well presented, and easy to use. It is so well designed that it can serve two distinct audiences at the same time with great success … homeowners/landlords and holiday makers!” 

Best Media Brand: Fractional Life  

“A genuine sense of energy, enthusiasm and passion really springs out from all the things that Fractional Life does. There could not possibly be a better ambassador for the fractional sector than Fractional Life. Their use of detail and easy-to-understand explanations oozes credibility. They know how to make a complex story sound very simple.”    

Best Currency Company: Currency Index Ltd  

“Customer care and attention to detail characterise all of the shortlisted companies in this category but it was the way in which Currency Index goes the extra mile to find out how it can constantly improve its service that impressed me. Currency Index really does try harder.” 

Best Financial Services Company: 2 ^nd  Homes International  

“2nd Homes Financial Services operates globally focusing on medium to large scale commercial finance. They add a variety of new elements to the term 'financial services'. Not only do they bring a great breath of knowledge and experience to the table in project management and funding capabilities, but their composition of seasoned veterans, including a Senior Lobbyist, Professor, Economist Specialist, Professional Engineers and Financial Experts assures that your project is the hands of experts with proven results.” 

Best Estate Agent: uv10  

“A first-class husband-and-wife led team with first class knowledge, UV10 put a lot of thought and research into their choice of listings. Whilst operating a commercial operation they put their clients first. They do not apply too much pressure to buy, but are always on hand to offer professional advice. Overall I felt that this was a company going places. They are Number One because of their hands-on, caring agency approach which is creating a healthy stream of satisfied customers.” 

Best Eco Development: AlmaVerde Village & Spa  

“AlmaVerde Village and Spa is a great eco development, not only from an environmental perspective, but also from the perspective of its home owners.  The environmental impact of the buildings themselves is the focus of the development’s green credentials.  Also, importantly, the tangible consumer benefit of low energy bills is clearly communicated to consumers.” 

Best Affordable Developer: Orascom Development for Haram City  

“Orascom has a clear marketing campaign, good financial schemes that make buying possible, a key location in Cairo, and good training for its sales staff. There are a  number of European developers who could learn a lot from this exercise in master planning.”  

Best Luxury Developer: Orascom Development  

“Orascom started out at a disadvantage in that I did not know anything about them or the development before I started the judging process.  However, their beautifully clear presentation backed up by appropriate figures and sensible analysis made it the outstanding entry. A genuine 5-star developer.” 

Best Developer – Morocco: Property Logic  

“The Property Logic team brings a wealth of experience and clever concepts to its resorts. Le Jardin de Fleur presents an ideal prospect for those looking to invest in their own property with added rental income. The operators have been selected to give access to a variety of national and worldwide markets.” 

Best Developer – Turkey: Horizon Sky  

“ The Horizon Sky - Turkey entry for Best Developer stood above the rest in so many ways. Credibility and buyer confidence is paramount in today’s market and this development has struck an effective balance between contemporary and modernist architecture to introduce a new level of luxury to Turkey … whilst combining this with the trust and confidence Galliard Homes brings to the development. ” 

Best Developer – Egypt: Amer Group  

“Amer Group makes what it does look interesting and builds large and impressive developments. The company has a good website for all of its projects and it clearly tries very hard to make sure that it has much more to offer in the way of facilities than its competitors.” 

Best Developer - Portugal & Madeira: Morgan Forbes for Ponta do Pargo Resort Madeira  

“ Morgan Forbes aims to deliver affordable investments to its clients with an impressive mix of good quality customer service and communication. The company keeps its clients up-to-date about all aspects of the project. Dramatic landscapes, a pleasing and modern hotel design and a championship golf course also contribute to making the Ponta do Pargo resort a definite winner.” 

Best Developer – Latin America: Grup Immobiliari Natal Brasil  

“ With exceptionally high local demand for housing in the north east of Brazil, Grup Immobiliari Natal Brasil gear their developments towards overseas investors with a sustainable exit strategy. While there are numerous developers catering to international holiday home buyers, Grup Immobiliari is the only company focusing on overseas investors. With a multi-lingual team on the ground, a fine-tuned knowledge of the market, local and international staff, the company successfully overcomes all the usual language barriers - and meets that growing demand.”