Lifetime achievement award for ASAP Chairman David Smith as companies shine at the 2014 ASAP Conference Awards.

David Smith, Chairman of the Association of Serviced Apartment Providers (ASAP) and Director of City Apartments Ltd, won the ‘Lifetime Achievement’ award at the ASAP Annual Conference and Awards dinner, sponsored by Sky, on 4 December.

Smith, who has chaired ASAP since 2004, was recognised for his leading role in establishing and leading the Association to be the primary voice for the industry.

ASAP managing director James Foice paid tribute to Smith, saying: “David is a true visionary, who saw the potential for our sector early on and has been a powerful advocate for serviced apartments both as the owner of his own business, and as a superb Chairman of the ASAP.”

City Apartments picked up a highly commended award for ‘Best Guest Experience’, with the winner being Staying Cool.  The other major awards were shared out among a number of leading businesses in the sector. Marlin Apartments won the ‘Industry Leader’ Award, with Oakwood Worldwide picking up the award for the ‘Most Innovative Serviced Apartment Operator’ (The Apartment Service were highly commended). It capped a great night for Oakwood, who were also highly commended in the ‘Industry Leader’ category.

Cheval Harrington Court won the award for the ‘Best Hospitality and Service Experience’ (SACO were highly commended), and Fernando Diez of Executive Serviced Apartments (ESA) Ltd was a popular winner of the ‘Outstanding Individual/Rising Star Award’. Charlotte Glover of Town or Country was highly commended.

James Foice said: “The judges were hugely impressed with the quality of entries for the awards this year. The theme for the ASAP Annual Conference focused on the guest experience, and all our winners and highly commended entries were notable for their absolute dedication to providing a great guest experience.”

“Our congratulations go to all the winners and highly commended entries, all of whom demonstrated why our industry is fast becoming a force to be reckoned with.”

Full list of winners and highly commended is as follows:

Category: The Industry Leader

Highly Commended: Oakwood Worldwide

Winner: MARLIN Apartments

Category: The Best Guest Experience

Highly Commended:City Apartments Ltd

Winner:Staying Cool

Category: The Most Innovative Serviced Apartment Operator

Highly Commended: The Apartment Service

Winner: Oakwood Worldwide

Category: The Best Hospitality & Service Experience

Highly Commended: SACO The Serviced Apartment Company

Winner: Cheval Harrington Court

Category: Outstanding Individual/Rising Star

Highly Commended: Charlotte Glover, Town or Country

Winner: Fernando Diez, Executive Serviced Apartments (ESA) Ltd

Lifetime Achievement Award:  David Smith, City Apartments Ltd

About ASAP:

ASAP is the trade association for the UK serviced apartment sector. Our 83 members own and operate over 14,000 properties throughout the UK and Ireland, in every major city. Our membership also includes a number of serviced apartment agencies.  Our industry generates annual revenues of £500m, and we sell three million accommodation nights each year. We provide employment to many thousands of people and our staffing costs are in the region of £70million, many of which are low paid jobs.

Founded in 2002, our members range from large international companies to small independent operators so represent the full cross-section of the industry in the UK.

Subject: Lifetime achievement award for ASAP Chairman David Smith as companies shine at the 2014 ASAP Conference Awards.