OC Homes wins the E-Business of the Year Award 2023!

OC Homes are proud winners of the E-Business of the Year Award, sponsored and judged by the E-Business Support Programme Newham College.

Newham Business Awards 2023 was held on 23 November at the Old Town Hall Stratford, organised by the Newham Chamber of Commerce.  The awards and gala dinner, attended by over 200 people, is one of East London's biggest business events of the year.

The popular E-Business of the Year award received many applications from businesses across East London, and we were in the final shortlist of three, alongside Good Hotel London and Ktcic Architects, so the competition was fierce.  But following our interview with the judging panel, OC Homes was deemed the clear winner:

"Over the past five years, OC Homes has demonstrated an incredible digital transformation. They provided excellent illustrations of how they apply their digital platform to every aspect of their company. The seamless integration of their CRM systems, which facilitates quick reporting, communication, and access to necessary information for both landlords and tenants, truly pleased us. 

They gave us a fantastic demonstration of how to leverage social media, advance brand recognition, and use the their CRM system integrations.

To summarise, we awarded OC Homes the E-Business of the Year award since they not only displayed but also demonstrated their whole digital transformation in the business. They have fantastic systems in place for work flows and how they communicate with their clients. They will undoubtedly have a fantastic 2024." said Ayo Afuape, the award judge from the E-Business Programme Team.

OC Homes is part of the OC Group of companies and was established in 2008, formed by two brothers Priyesh & Amar Upadhyaya, both of whom Newham born and bred. They set off on a journey to serve and fulfill the growing property market in Newham, Waltham Forest and across the whole of East London.

“I remember clear to the day when every property in around Newham went up in value by nearly 30- 40% when the 2012 Olympics were announced on the 6th July 2005! That really was as monumental day in the Newham property market!” says Priyesh.

The burning ambition to serve Newham did not stop there. Enter Tony Varghese LLB, Sales Director for OC Homes who joined in 2018. Born in Forest Gate Hospital, Tony grew up in East Ham and has lived there until recent. Having crossed paths with Priyesh at St Bonaventures RC School, Tony studied at St Angelaʼs Sixth Form, Forest Gate.

The Upadhyaya brothers & Tony have been serving the East London property market for over 24 years. OC Homes have successfully sold and rented over 750 properties in and around Newham thanks to their roots, history and connections to the local community.

Tony Varghese who accepted the award on behalf of OC Homes, said:

"We are grateful to even make it to the shortlist and be part of the amazing evening tonight so to end up winning it as a small independent business is just incredible. We were nominated then critiqued and judged by a panel of judges to get into the shortlist and eventually be named the winner. Massive thanks to our team and all of our clients and friends who made this possible. Really didn’t expect this so I wasn’t prepared at all but grateful as ever to be recognised for what we do. Another step forward."