The 2026 Negotiator Awards survey categories are open now, but the deadline is close
Free to Enter, Open to Every Surveyor, and It Could Be Brilliant for Your Business
Twelve months ago I stood on the stage at Grosvenor House, under those famous chandeliers, in front of more than 800 of the property industry’s great and good, and watched something I had hoped for over many years finally happen. Surveyors took centre stage at The Negotiator Awards. For the first time ever our profession had its own categories, and the first winners in surveying’s history were crowned that night.
What made it matter was not who won, but that it happened at all, and that it was genuinely open to everyone. These categories are not an RPSA members’ club. They are open to every residential surveyor in the country, whatever their background or accreditation, which is exactly as it should be. The RPSA’s job is to champion the whole profession, and seeing surveyors of all stripes recognised on a national stage is precisely the kind of thing we exist for.
So I am delighted to tell you that the surveying categories are back for 2026, and entry is open right now. If you have ever fancied a bit of national recognition for the work you quietly do every day, this is your moment. But do read on quickly, because the clock is already ticking.
First, a quick word on the deadline
Let me get this out of the way before the pep talk, because it matters more than anything else in this article. Entries close at midnight on 30th June 2026. That is now barely two weeks away. There will be no extensions, so if you have been meaning to “get round to it”, consider this your nudge. The good news is that you can register, start an entry, save it, and come back to finish it right up until the deadline. So even a few minutes today to set up your account puts you in the game.
The two categories
The categories are presented in association with the RPSA, and crucially they are open to every residential surveyor, regardless of affiliation or accreditation. There are two routes in, depending on the size of your practice, and they are deliberately drawn that way so that the brilliant solo surveyor is not pitched directly against the well resourced national firm. Each is judged on its own merits, with its own pool of competitors. Pick whichever fits you, and read on for a sense of what a winning entry actually looks like.
Independent Surveyor of the Year
This one is for solo practitioners and micro practices of up to five surveyors. If you are the sort of person who answers your own phone, knows your clients by name, and quietly transforms how house buyers in your patch experience the moving process, this is your category. It rewards dedication, deep client focus, and the kind of tangible, on the ground impact that bigger operations sometimes struggle to match.
Do not for a moment think “small” means “small fry” here. The judges are looking for surveyors who punch well above their weight, who turn personal service into a genuine competitive advantage, and who have the testimonials and case studies to prove it. The independent category specifically asks for five client testimonials, so the people you have helped become your strongest possible advocates.
Last year’s gold went to Abby Raynor of 840 Property and Surveying Services. Abby’s entry was the textbook example of a single surveyor demonstrating outsized impact in her community, with a wall of glowing client feedback and a clear story of why people sought her out rather than anyone else. Silver went to Trew Surveying, bronze to Complete Inspection Surveyors, and there were Highly Commended nods for The Good Surveyor and Ashton Lee Surveyors, every one of them a genuinely excellent independent practice doing brilliant work.
The lesson from that line up is a simple one. If you are the surveyor your past clients can’t stop recommending, you already have most of what you need. The entry is just the bit where you write it down.
Surveying Firm of the Year
This is the category for firms of six or more surveyors. It rewards practices that have managed the tricky balancing act of growing the business without losing the human touch, that are innovating in how surveys are produced and delivered, and that are setting service standards their competitors quietly try to copy.
Larger firms have different stories to tell, and the judges know that. Here they are looking at things like team development and training, technology adoption, scalable quality assurance, client communication at volume, and the cultural glue that holds a growing practice together. If your firm has invested in better reporting software, brought in junior surveyors and trained them up, won client retention figures that make your competitors jealous, or built a reputation for the kind of consistency only a well run team can deliver, those are exactly the threads to pull on.
Last year’s gold went to Novello Group, with James Brook, Jack Pye and Paul Wareham collecting the trophy on the night. Their entry painted a vivid picture of a firm that had genuinely thought about every part of the surveying experience and rebuilt it for the better. Silver went to Holden's Chartered Surveyors and Building Consultancy, with bronze to Houzecheck, and again, the standard was extraordinarily high right across the shortlist.
If you run or work in a firm of any meaningful size, ask yourself this: are we as good as those three? In a lot of cases, the honest answer is yes, or very nearly, and we simply have not told anyone. Awards like these are how you tell them.
A practical note on eligibility
Entrants need to be accredited members of a recognised professional body such as RPSA, RICS, CIOB, CABE, ISSE or SAVA. If you are not sure which category fits you best, particularly if you are right on the boundary between the two, the Negotiator team are happy to point you in the right direction at entries@thenegotiator.co.uk.
What last year proved
Beyond the named winners and shortlists above, the deeper story of the night was the standard right across the board. These were ordinary surveying practices, run by people like you, who simply decided to put themselves forward, and the quality of their entries blew the judges away. Every shortlisted firm came out of that evening able to call themselves, with total justification, among the very best in the country. That is the prize on the table again this year.
And of course the night’s most emotional moment was when Kate Faulkner OBE received the inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award to a full standing ovation, and became the RPSA’s first ever Honorary Lifetime Member. A more deserving recipient you could not wish to find.
Still on the fence? Let’s be honest about it
I know awards are not everyone’s cup of tea. Our profession is full of modest, head down, get on with the job types, and there is a lot to admire in that. But humour me for a second and weigh it up properly.
Entry is completely free. There are no hidden charges, no catch. Only the judges see your submission, so there is no public list of also rans, no league table of “failures”. If you enter and it does not come off this time, you have lost precisely nothing. Nobody will ever know.
But if it does come off? That is national recognition. Local press coverage, LinkedIn buzz, a headline, and a marketing asset you will be using for years. You would be able to say, with total honesty, “we are officially one of the best surveying practices in the country.” You might even feel justified in nudging your fees up a little, because people will always pay more for proven quality. You would not hire the budget architect of the year, would you?
So the honest maths is simple. Downside, nothing. Upside, potentially career-changing. I know which side of that bet I would take.
A bit of friendly rivalry, anyone?
I would genuinely love to see a bit of friendly rivalry break out among the higher-profile names in our profession this year. Who gets shortlisted? Who takes the gold? Who wears the dinner jacket best? If any of our YouTubers, TikTokkers and LinkedIn regulars fancy turning it into a bit of good-natured competition, I am all for it. Let’s make some noise.
How to enter, step by step
It is more straightforward than you might expect.
Go to the official entry page and read the “How to Enter” guidance first. This really is essential reading, so do not skip it.
- Register online to create your account. You will get a confirmation email with an activation link, so check your spam folder if it does not appear.
- Choose your category (or categories; you can enter as many as you qualify for).
- Work through the entry fields. You have five or six key criteria, each with a 500 word limit. My strong advice, use all of it. A good, shortlist-worthy entry fills the space.
- Back up every claim with evidence. Testimonials, reviews, qualifications, CPD records, growth figures, case studies. Saying you are great is not enough, you have to show it. The independent category asks for five client testimonials, so start gathering those now.
- Save as you go. The page can time out, and there are few things more painful than losing a polished entry.
A tip worth its weight in gold: draft your answers offline first, in a plain text file, get your colleagues to read them over, then paste them in once you are all happy.
The entry portal and full guidance are here: thenegotiator.co.uk/awards. Enter Here - click link
Let’s do it again
Last year, we helped put surveying on the national stage for the first time, and the profession did itself proud. This year, I want to see even more surveyors in that room, on that shortlist, and up on that stage, RPSA members and non-members alike. The finalists and winners will be revealed at the black-tie gala dinner at Grosvenor House on Park Lane on 27th November 2026, and the RPSA would love to fill a few tables and cheer on every surveyor who makes the cut.
So do not leave it to someone else. Set up your account today, even if you write nothing else for a week. Be bold. The next great story about excellence in surveying could very easily be yours.
Enter today, and be proud of what you have built.
