After a nail-biting few months, the retailer finalists of the Greats Gift Retailer Awards 2021 have been announced today (July 5)! The finalists in the Best Service and Best Gift Supplier Marketing categories will be announced shortly.
“Entrants and nominees exceeded expectations, with the pandemic challenging all retailers to really up their game, especially while the doors were closed,” commented Sue Marks editor of Progressive Gift & Home/GiftandHome.net, which owns and organises The Greats. “Gift shop owners magnificently rose to the challenge, showing their resilience and their resourcefulness in finding ways to go on trading successfully. The bar has been set very high this year, and every one of our finalists excelled in their category.”
All winners, to include the winner of the prestigious Honorary Achievement award, will be revealed at a live, glittering lunch and afternoon event to be held on Thursday September 23 at the historic Honourable Artillery Club (HAC) in London, with all strands of the gift industry invited to share in this exciting, very special day for the gift and home industry.
The Greats 2021 finalists are (in alphabetical order):
Retail Employee Of The Year 2021
Lindsay Freeman, senior sales assistant, Cornucopia, Worcester
Kirsty Hammond, manager, No.14 Ampthill
Alex Kirkham, manager, The Barn at The Hollies, Little Budworth
Sarah Laurence, manager, MiMi, Hartley Wintney
Jo Pepper, stock control, Lister Interiors, Chester, Llandudno and Shrewsbury
Paula Zielinska, assistant manager, Highworth Emporium, Highworth
Independent Retailer of the Year – Midlands & Wales
Cornucopia, Worcester
Daisy Chain, Stratford upon Avon
Maddison, Harborne
Mooch Gifts & Home, Bewdley & Stourport on Severn
Nest, Broughton Abbey and Thurlaston Garden Centre and Tea Room
Penelope Primrose, Builth Wells
Independent Retailer of the Year – Scotland
Bonkers, Edinburgh and St Andrews
The Herbary, Troon
JP Pozzi/Bijou, Buckie and Elgin
Old School Beauly, Beauly
Original Artists, Gourock
Spirito, Glasgow
Independent Retailer of the Year – North and Northern Ireland
Doodle & Boom, Bangor
Flamingo Gifts, Kendal
The Pier Gifts & Home, Blackpool
Robert & Ruby, Helmsley
Sophie Likes, Harrogate
Within Reason, Sheffield
Independent Retailer of the Year – South West
Jo Amor, Tiverton
Highworth Emporium, Highworth
The Inner Yard, Devizes
Kondi Gifts, Bristol
Out Of The Blue, Totnes
Papilio at Heritage, Bristol
Independent Retailer of the Year – East Anglia
Amore and Dzo Dzo, Woodbridge
Daisy Lanes, Rayleigh
Little Boat Gifts, Brightlingsea
Lovely Libby’s & Olive Branch, Billericay, Brentwood and Rayleigh
LoveOne, Ipswich
Ruby and the Angel and Ruby and the Angel ECO, Debenham
Independent Retailer of the Year – London
The Indigo Tree, Crystal Palace and Streatham
InSpitalfields, Spitalfields
Jumping Bean, Beckenham and Honor Oak
Mooch, Ealing (3 stores)
Wishlist, Raynes Park
Independent Retailer of the Year – Home Counties, South & South East
Alligator Pear, Tadworth
Lily’s Attic, Witney
Lulu Loves Home, Stubbington
Moda, Folkestone
No 14 Ampthill, Ampthill
WOW, Hythe
Best Newcomer – Midlands, North and Scotland
Henry & Co, Ormskirk
Jessica Hogarth Shop, Robin Hood’s Bay
Inger & Rae, Harrogate
Keepsakes Scotland, Inverness, Loch Lomond and Pitlochry
The Little Christmas Shop, Ironbridge
Nutshell, Stirling
Best Newcomer – South & Wales
The Bean Hive and The Bean Hive By The Sea, Kettering and Falmouth
Frankly, Bristol
Gifts of Wales, Welshpool
Just Love Studio, Hook
Maybugs, Hailsham
The St Ives Co, St Ives
Best Specialist Multiple
Brocante (5 shops)
Cilla and Camilla (4 shops)
Lark London (7 shops)
Mooch (5 shops)
Time and Tide (7 shops)
Vinegar Hill (10 shops)
Best Department Store
Barkers and Barkers Home, Northallerton
Fenwick
John Lewis & Partners
Morleys Group
Nicholls, Abergavenny, Brecon, Brecon Country, Crickhowell
Roys of Wroxham, Wroxham
Best Non-Specialist Retailer Of Gifts
Bert’s Homestore, Brighton, Worthing and Hove
Bury Lane Farm Shop, Royston
Dunelm
Loch Levens Larder, Kinross
Oliver Bonas
Priory Farm Shop, Nutfield
Best Lifestyle or Homewares Retailer of Gifts
Angela Reed, Cambridge and Saffron Walden
Graham & Green, Bath, Bayswater, Notting Hill and Primrose Hill
Josies Interiors, Bideford
Lister Interiors, Chester, Llandudno and Shrewsbury
Perfectly Lovely Interiors, Taunton
The Rounded House, Oundle
Best Gift Retailer of Jewellery & Fashion Accessories
The Bottom Drawer, Portadown
Cilla and Camilla, Beaminster
Natural Edge, Leigh-On-Sea
Mercado, Hampton Court
Mimi, Hartley Wintney
One Forty, Cranleigh
Best Garden Centre Retailer of Gifts
Barton Grange Garden Centre, Preston
Blue Diamond Group
Garsons, Esher and Titchfield
Longacres Garden Centre Group
Ruxley Manor Garden Centre, Sidcup
Yarnton Home and Garden, Yarnton
Best Museum or Visitor Attraction Shop
British Museum, London
Hever Castle, Hever
Longleat Safari Park, Longleat
Milestones Living History Museum, Basingstoke
Pensthorpe Natural Trust, Pensthorpe
Royal Museums, Greenwich
Best In Store or Window Display
Arrowsmiths, Broadstairs
Casa Fina, Salisbury
Dear Grace, Colchester
In Heaven at Home, Market Harborough
Omnipresent Gift Shop, Kinver
Robert & Ruby, Helmsley
Best Retailer Initiative
The Celtic Company, Welshpool, for its video appeal to the Welsh government
Highworth Emporium, Highworth, for its Freebie Friday initiative
Lark London, for its Pick and Go campaign
Lulu Loves Home, Stubbington, for its Rainbow Windows of Hope campaign
Magpie’s Nest, Stalybridge, for its Box of Happiness programme
Mooch Gifts & Home, Bewdley and Stourport-on-Severn, for Mooch Live
Tickets to the event are available from event organiser Clare Hollick e: clare@createvents.co.uk; tel: 01183 340085 or direct from Max-Tickets.net.
To read more about being at the hottest ticket on the gift industry’s calendar, visitwww.thegreatsawards.co.uk
To date, the impressive line-up of Greats sponsors include (in alphabetical order): Candlelight; Carte Blanche Greetings (CBG); Gift Republic; GiftsandHome.net; Gisela Graham; Harrogate Christmas & Gift; Joe Davies; Life Charms: Progressive Gifts & Home; Premier Decorations; Progressive Greetings Live; Spring Fair and Autumn Fair; Wrendale Designs and The Giftware Association.
For remaining sponsorship opportunities, please contact Jo Pilcher on 020 3764 1694 e: jop@max-publishing.co.uk;
