United Kingdom Sotheby's International Realty Executive Partner Becky Fatemi won the inaugural 'Woman of the Year' title at the 2025 Spear's Awards – an accolade reserved for a "female leader in the UK private client sector" who is "instrumental in shaping the direction of her firm and driving innovation in how private client services are delivered."
It was a dazzling winter evening when the annual Spear's Awards ceremony took place with much fanfare at the Raffles Hotel within the newly reimagined OWO residential complex. Commonly dubbed the "Oscars of the private client world", the event brought together industry veterans from the realms of wealth management, law, luxury property, and philanthropy to celebrate those who serve ultra-high-net-worth clientele with distinction and made exceptional contributions within their industry in the past year.
This marks Becky's second consecutive Spear's Award, having won ‘Estate Agent of the Year’ in 2024. Over the last two decades, she has achieved sales totalling more than £9 billion.
Becky’s Well-Deserved Victory
Fatemi's recognition reflects more than two decades operating at the highest echelons of the London property market. Persian-born and raised, traversing the globe, she eventually planted roots in London, where her career trajectory proved nothing short of meteoric. She worked her way up the ranks of the upper prime property market, becoming Foxtons' highest-billing sales executive on record before founding her own boutique estate agency, driven by an inherent drive to excel.
In founding Rokstone, Fatemi created what would become one of Prime Central London's most successful independent brokerages, accumulating a collection of prestigious awards that solidified its reputation as a powerhouse in the capital's luxury property sphere. The firm merged with United Kingdom Sotheby's International Realty in 2023, bringing to the heritage brand a distinctive style of client service honed over decades of excellence.
However, what truly reinforced her win was her strong sense of social responsibility, reflected in her initiative Shadow to Shine – an organisation dedicated to offering young adults from marginalised communities vocational courses, mentorship programmes, and work experience, empowering them to realise their full potential. Most recently, she has delved into the realm of the arts with BlackBook, a platform for connecting creatives – a venture currently backed by renowned TV host and radio DJ Maya Jama.
Commenting on this accomplishment, Fatemi shared, “Being named Spear’s 'Woman of the Year' is an extraordinary recognition and one I am genuinely grateful for. The past 12 months have been about growth, innovation, and purpose, from launching the first buying division at Sotheby’s International Realty UK to building BlackBook into a creative-first professional network and expanding the impact of Shadow to Shine.”
She continued, “What makes this award meaningful is that it reflects the values I try to champion: excellence, integrity, cultural diversity and genuine care for clients. I work in an industry where women, particularly women of colour, are still rare at the top. Showing that you can lead, build and create opportunities while staying true to who you are feels important.”
Raising the Bar for Women
This newly minted category reflects a significant dent in the proverbial glass ceiling hovering over an industry that has predominantly maintained the status quo. The award was introduced to directly address the stark gender disparity in the private client sector, where men represent approximately 64% of individuals included in the Spear's 500 — the market-leading ranking of top advisors serving ultra-high-net-worth individuals. This imbalance extends to leadership, with roughly 78% of C-suite executives in the sector being men.
Noting the significance of the award, Spear’s Editor-in-Chief Edwin Smith said, “This award is about celebrating the women who – despite that disparity – have made it to the very top of the tree, are performing at the very highest level, and who are using their influence to support colleagues on their own journey to do the same.”
The 'Woman of the Year' category received more applications than any other, and the calibre of talent shortlisted was exceptionally high. Alongside Fatemi were five other distinguished nominees, each a pioneer in their field with significant reputational cachet: Catherine Bedford, family lawyer at Harbottle & Lewis; Charlotte Thorne, founding partner at investment firm Capital Generation Partners; Nancy Curtin, Global CIO at wealth and asset management firm AlTi Tiedemann Global; Priya Rawal, CEO of private members' club The Luxury Property Forum; and Sofia Syed, CEO of private wealth law firm MEUM Group.
