Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
British Independent Retailers Association (bira) announced the winners of its British Independent Retail Awards 2017 programme on Monday (May 8) during a ceremony held at the Bristol Marriott Royal Hotel.
The annual awards, which reward the talent, hard work, innovation and achievements of the trade association’s members, were presented by journalist and author Kate Adie OBE.
The 2017 winners are:
bira direct – Supplier of the Year – Cookshop, Housewares, Tabletop & Gift
Horwood Homewares: a housewares supplier based in Bristol offering an extensive range of products to prepare, cook, serve and dine
bira direct – Supplier of the Year – Hardware, Garden, DIY & Pet
Stax Trade Centres: a national multi-channel wholesaler, operating from six branches
bira direct – Best Marketing Award
Connect: an independent home appliance service and spare parts distribution organisation
bira Honorary Award
Chris Patterson: owner of and managing director of Pattersons (and elected member seat of bira’s board of management).
Pattersons supplies bar, catering and cleaning products throughout the UK, with a large trade showroom in Bristol
Independent Retail Employee of the Year
Nathan Gale of Gardner and Scardifield: a West Sussex-based builders merchant, electrical wholesaler and DIY supplier
Independent Team of the Year
Roobarb: a lifestyle boutique selling homeware and giftware at Bridgnorth in Shropshire
Independent Retail Business of the Year – Winner
Rachel Riley: a retailer of designer and luxury childrensware with two shops in London
Independent Retail Business of the Year – Highly Commended
Aspire Style: a chain of five lifestyle boutiques selling womenswear, jewellery, accessories, shoes and giftware
Local Hero – Winner
Lyn French, The Stitch Mouse: owned by Lyn, The Stitch Mouse is a haberdashery shop at Epsom in Surrey. Lyn is well-known locally for her campaign to knit blankets for refugees in Calais and for other charities
Local Hero – Highly Commended
Holli Doherty: channel & shopper activation manager at AkzoNobel, which is a leading global paints and coatings company and major producer of specialty chemicals.
Holli loves being involved in charity projects and is now raising funds for her next venture: building a school for a village in Nepal
Charitable Champion
Alistair McAuley: UK & Ireland sales director of AkzoNobel, which is a leading global paints and coatings company and major producer of specialty chemicals.
Alistair is on a continued mission to support a charity which helps develop young people from all walks of life through learning and adventure in the wild.
His goal for this year is to raise £150,000, which would match what he raised in 2016. In the past five years he has raised a total of over £1 million for his charity.
Bira ceo Alan Hawkins said: “Congratulations to all our winners, who all truly deserve the recognition received. In previous years, the bira awards and winners have played a key role in raising the profile of independent retailers and reflecting and shaping the landscape in which independent retailers operate.
“The awards recognise and reward the achievements of not just the industry but the inspirational people who work effortlessly day-to-day ensuring the success of their businesses.”
l-r: Bira direct managing director Jeff Moody, bira direct director of buying Steve Akers, Horwood Homewares sales director Rob Jones, Kate Adie OBE
