Excellence in Housewares Awards 2018 reveals names of retail finalists

The roll-call of retailers who have reached the finals of the Excellence in Housewares Awards 2018 has been announced.

Organised by trade magazine ‘Progressive Housewares’ in conjunction with the Cookshop & Housewares (CHA) division of trade body bira (British Independent Retailers Association), the awards recognise and reward the achievements of UK housewares retailers and products over the past year. The product award finalists will be announced later this month.

The winners will be revealed at an awards ceremony in London on October 3. One lucky winner will also become the gia (Global Innovation Award) national winner for 2018/2019 and will represent the UK at the gia gala, which is held in March during the 2019 International Home + Housewares Show in Chicago.

Retailers that are new to the finalist line-up include Barkers, Brambles Cookshop, Brigg Garden Centre, Charlies Stores, Chef’s Ware, Essentials, Garsons, Hobbs The Kitchen Shop, HOUSE, The Kitchen Range, Klondyke Garden Centres, Philip Morris Direct (www.philipmorrisdirect.co.uk), Scotsdale Garden Centres, Sterling Furniture, Vincent Davies and Wooden Spoon The Cookshop.

The full list of finalists is:

Most Promising Newcomer:
Brambles Cookshop, Audlem, Cheshire
Chef’s Ware, Hastings, East Sussex
HOUSE, (Oxford, Bracknell, Sheffield)
Luxe Cookshop, Northampton, Northamptonshire
Rye Cookshop, Rye, East Sussex
Wooden Spoon The Cookshop, Derby, Derbyshire

Excellence in Direct Retailing:
Amazon
Emporium Cookshop
Harts of Stur
Ocado
Philip Morris Direct
The Hut Group

Excellence in Retail Training:
Borough Kitchen, London
Essentials, Hazlemere, Buckinghamshire
Lawsons, Devon
Leekes, South Wales, South-West & West Midlands
Potters Cookshop, Hockley, Essex
Steamer Trading Cookshop, nationwide

Excellence in Retail Display – Independent:
Borough Cookshop. London
Dinghams, Salisbury
Garsons, Esher, Surrey
Harts of Stur, Sturminster Newton, Dorset
The Kitchen Range, Llandudno, Wales
Potters Cookshop, Hockley, Essex

Excellence in Retail Display – Multiple or Department Store:
Barkers, Northallerton, North Yorkshire
Blue Diamond Garden Centres, nationwide
Brigg Garden Centre, Brigg, Lincolnshire
Harrods, London
Steamer Trading Cookshop, nationwide
Vincent Davies, Haverfordwest, Wales

Excellence in Retail Initiative:
Cookmate, Worcester, Worcestershire: for Cookmate Cookery School
Essentials, Hazlemere, Buckinghamshire: for 30 Things We Love
Harts of Stur, Sturminster Newton, Dorset: for Cheese Festival Weekend Spectacular
Hobbs The Kitchen Shop, Penzance, Cornwall: for Plastic Free Coastlines
Lawsons, Devon: for Go Plastic Free
Steamer Trading Cookshop, nationwide: for Reduce and Reuse

Excellence in Non-Specialist Multiple Retailing:
Blue Diamond Garden Centres
Dobbies
Dunelm
Klondyke Garden Centres
Leekes
Scotsdale Garden Centres

Excellence in Specialist Retailing – Multiples and Large Independents:
Abraxas Cookshop, Northamptonshire, Warwickshire & Oxfordshire
Art of Living, Surrey
Borough Kitchen, London
Lakeland, nationwide
Lords at Home, London
Steamer Trading Cookshop, nationwide

Best Department Store – Independent:
Bakers & Larners of Holt, Norfolk
Barkers, Northallerton, North Yorkshire
Dawsons, Skipton, North Yorkshire & Clitheroe, Lancashire
Jarrold, Norfolk, Norwich
Harrods, London
Housing Units, Manchester

Best Department Store – Multiple Branch or Group Member:

Bentalls, Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey

Fenwick, Brent Cross, north-west London
Fenwick, Colchester, Essex
John Lewis, Oxford Street, London
Selfridges, Oxford Street, London
Sterling Furniture, Tillicoultry, Scotland

bira Cookshop and Housewares Retailer of the Year:
Barnitts, York, Yorkshire
Lords at Home, London
Potters Cookshop, Hockley, Essex
Prep and Richard Dare, north London
Salt & Pepper, Monmouth, Wales
Trevor Mottram, Tunbridge Wells, Kent

Retail Employee of the Year:
Nadine Coyle, department sales manager, Fenwick, Brent Cross, north-west London
Sara Hunt, manager, Trevor Mottram, Tunbridge Wells, Kent
Sue McCarthy, senior buyer, Charlies Stores, Wales & The Borders
Evelyn Spencer, Le Creuset consultant, Fenwick, Brent Cross, north-west London
Sue Stone, manager, Dinghams, Winchester, Hampshire
Vicky Yeoll, assistant sales manager, Steamer Trading Cookshop, Horsham, West Sussex