Ray White New Zealand celebrates its 2023 award winners

More than 1200 people from across 197 offices gathered for Ray White New Zealand’s annual awards at Spark Arena last night to celebrate and recognize the top offices and individual achievers from throughout the leading network.

Ray White New Zealand CEO Daniel Coulson (pictured above) congratulated the network on their incredible achievements over the last 12 months.

“The past twelve months have presented the most challenging market conditions that many of us have experienced in our time in real estate,” Mr Coulson said.

“They are conditions that have tested our resolve, our determination, at times – our abilities but ultimately our decision making.

“It is that decision-making that has seen many of our people rise, but ìt can and has been costly to many others. In property management similar challenges have arisen in regulation.

“It has been said that challenging times are character building, but that is not the case – challenging times are character revealing.

“The decisions every single one of us make on a daily basis have an impact on the reputation, confidence and trust of our organisation.

“On the street corner, at the dining room table, on the auction floor, on the phone, with our competitors and with our own team we are proud to be Ray White

“The performance of our very best people is leveraged by every member of our organisation.

“It is incumbent upon each of us to ensure that it is not taken for granted and that our decision making reflects the we and not the I.

“As we look to the road ahead of us, we can be confident in our ability to continue to lead the market in innovation, in our processes, the structure of our business as we welcome the next leaders of our organisation, and ultimately our ability to deliver the outcomes that our clients, our customers and our members are seeking.”

Ray White Group managing director Dan White (pictured above) said he was honoured to celebrate the achievements of the network over the last year.

“What an enormous year, by any standard a challenging year, not without its obstacles. For everyone here celebrating with your peers and colleagues, what a joy it is to be alongside you,” Mr White said.

“To our award winners this year, the achievements we celebrate tonight don’t come without huge sacrifices and we recognise the enormous effort you have put in.”

The CEO Cup is the most coveted award for the Ray White network, and is a prize awarded to individuals who have made a significant contribution to Ray White.

This year’s CEO Cup was awarded to Vanessa McKenzie (pictured above) who represents Ray White’s values and leadership at the highest level.

Ms McKenzie said the award came as a huge surprise, and that she couldn’t have done it without her team.

“Ray White provides such amazing tools and our job is to implement them and I have a team around me who are willing to embrace things and try something new, so this is really our success as a team,” she said.

“With a little bit of trust we can go a really long way.

“Trust, confidence, and entrepreneurship is what got us to where we are today.”

For the ninth year in a row, the award for Office of the Year went to Ray White Remuera, with Ray White Manukau in second place, followed by Ray White Howick.

Ray White Remuera business owners Megan Jaffe, John Bowring, and Thomas Farmer celebrated the success of their team (pictured above), with two of the office’s top agents Steve and Nila Koerber accepting the award on stage.

“Some might think this award was a little bit easier to achieve this time around, especially since Ray White Remuera has achieved this award for nine years in a row, but it wasn’t easy,” they said.

“It takes guts, stamina, initiative, focus, and incredibly hard work.

“Behind every enduring success story there are countless unseen struggles and a few joyous moments like tonight!”

Mr and Mrs Koerber attributed the success of the business to the leadership of Megan Jaffe.

“Born of personal adversity and with a deep drive to learn, Megan’s success is well deserved because she cares so deeply about people.

“Nike’s slogan is ‘just do it’ but Megan’s slogan is ‘just do the right thing’.”