The awards were presented at a ceremony at London’s Hilton Bankside and was decided through a two-stage process. The finalist shortlist was determined by industry votes, highlighting Kevin’s strong reputation among his peers across the mortgage and conveyancing sectors. The overall winners were then selected by a panel of industry experts.

The British Specialist Lending Awards celebrate excellence in the mortgage, legal, and financial services industries, recognising individuals who raise standards, innovate, collaborate, and drive positive change in the specialist market.

Award winners are mortgage advisers, lender employees, business leaders and innovators, all of whom have demonstrated an improvement to their own business and the wider market.

The Business Leader: Conveyancer award was awarded to the individual who embodies the ethos of their firm, delivering a consistently high-quality offering and a quick and efficient service to clients.

Kevin’s leadership journey began with the launch of SortRefer in 2009. He expanded the business into a full-service property group with the creation of Sort Legal in 2017. The Sort Group are now market leaders in the conveyancing and legal services sector.

Over the last 12 months, under Kevin’s direction, the Group has delivered record-breaking performance, with a 14% increase in overall instructions, a 10% increase in overall completions and conveyancing instructions and a 22% increase in survey instructions.

Kevin also spearheaded the launch of a new ‘property hub’ in South Shields, with further expansion planned throughout 2025.

Commenting on winning the award, Kevin Tunnicliffe said:

“I’m incredibly honoured to receive this award, particularly knowing it was driven by votes from my peers in the industry. This is not just a personal achievement though - it reflects the hard work, talent and innovation of the entire Sort Group team.

“We are committed to driving positive change in the conveyancing space and helping reshape the future of the sector.”

The judges praised Kevin saying that:

“He is leading the way, especially with technology and has really pushed for the industry to make a change. He is making the industry ‘level up’ to a new standard.”

Kevin has a track record of prestigious awards, including the title of most influential CEO in Derbyshire for Conveyancing Service by CEO Monthly Magazine and the winner of Business Leader: Conveyancer at the British Mortgage Awards in 2023.

He is also playing a key role in shaping the future of the conveyancing industry. Last year he launched the Conveyancing Levelling Up Forum, a sector-wide initiative for collaboration and best practice sharing across the legal and property sectors.