ONE of Kendal's best-known estate agents has been recognised for its outstanding service to clients.

The team at Milne Moser say they are "absolutely delighted" to be shortlisted among the North West's best estate agents at the prestigious ESTAS awards.

TV property expert Phil Spencer is to host the glittering ceremony at London's Grosvenor Hotel on April 20 in front of 1,000 of the UK's property professionals.

"Any firm that enters The ESTAS has already sent a clear message they are passionate about customer service," said Mr Spencer, best known for his small-screen partnership with Kirstie Allsopp, "so to make it on to the shortlist is a huge achievement in itself."

Milne Moser has estate and lettings agencies at Highgate, Kendal and The Square, Milnthorpe, and is in the running for best estate agent in Cumbria, Lancashire and Merseyside.

The firm's director of property services Martin Brownsord told the Gazette: "We’re absolutely delighted to have made it on to this year’s shortlist. We are passionate about the level of service we deliver to our clients and this proves all the hard work the team put in has paid off."

Now in their 15th year, the awards are sponsored by property website Zoopla and decided by customer research. Clients are asked questions about the service they received, and this year saw record entries, with 36,000 people completing an online survey. Estate agents have been shortlisted in 30 regions around the UK.

Simon Brown, founder of The ESTAS, explained: "Our job is to highlight agents who are providing exceptional levels of customer care through the home moving process. At The ESTAS we believe the only way to judge the performance of an agent is to ask the clients who have experienced the whole service through to completion.

"It’s often later in the transaction when a firm really shows their worth and at those times its their experience and professionalism that gets the deal back on track."