Awards, News

British retail heroes celebrated in shortlist for the Retail Week Awards 2022

More than 50 people working in Britain’s shops, headquarters, distribution and delivery centres have been shortlisted in this year’s Retail Week Awards.

Taking place at Old Billingsgate, London, on 26 May, the Retail Week Awards 2022 will celebrate the outstanding work of British retailers and the retail workforce over the last year by recognising excellence across the industry. The ceremony will follow Retail Week Live 2022, a two-day innovation festival, which takes place 24 – 25 May.

Awards will be presented to retail workers, diversity champions and head office staff who have gone and above and beyond in their roles to put customers, colleagues and communities ahead of themselves.

Dozens of businesses ranging from grocery giants Tesco and Aldi to speciality brands such as HelloFresh and Sosandar are also in line to receive an award, with categories including Best new store, Best place to work and Retail leader of the year. 

An impressive line-up of 15 industry experts makes up the Retail Week Awards judging panel this year, including Liz Evans, Managing Director of Asda, Jo Whitfield, CEO of Co-op Food, Manju Malhotra, CEO of Harvey Nichols and Pano Christou, CEO of Pret.

Manju Malhotra, CEO of Harvey Nichols, said: “I am delighted to be part of the judging panel for this year’s Retail Week Awards. There is a great line up of nominees who have made a significant contribution to the retail industry, and during a particularly demanding year this makes them even more remarkable. I am looking forward to learning more about the nominees.”
Megan Dunsby, senior commercial content editor at Retail Week added: “The calibre of entries this year was exceptional. One thing that screamed out at me was the sheer amount of investment, work and collaboration retailers have been driving at their respective businesses this past year; going above and beyond to meet evolving customer expectations.
“Retailers are at the coalface of disruption and the entries highlighted that rather than standing back, retailers are leaning into this challenge. Whether this be implementing innovative new solutions to optimise supply chains, rolling out game-changing technology to enhance the in-store experience or adopting employee engagement initiatives that mobilise thousands of colleagues, my hat goes off to our Retail Week Award entrants. Good luck!’
Marks & Spencer store manager Becki Gorman was named Frontline Hero Store Manager in last year’s Retail Week Awards after she overcame a brain tumour to return to work and deliver exceptional commercial results, while also volunteering for the NHS.
Becki said: “It was amazing to be recognised at last year’s awards. It was a brilliant evening and an unbelievable feeling to win! I’m looking forward to hearing the brilliant stories behind this year’s nominations and wish the best of luck to all the nominees.”

The Retail Week Awards 2022 takes place at Old Billingsgate on 26 May. 

Retail Week Awards 2022 Shortlist: 

The Quadient store hero award

  • Store 6482 Team, Boots UK
  • Geoff Wood, Store Manager, The Co-Op
  • Thomas Robson, Store Manager, Central England Co-Op
  • Darren Kenworthy, Store Manager, Currys
  • Dee Rutherford, General Manager, Dobbies Garden Centres
  • Steve Tappin, Store Manager, Holland & Barrett
  • Kim Scott, Team Leader, Homebase
  • Nick Holmes, Solihull Shack Manager, Loaf
  • Brian Torley, Store Manager, M&S Falkirk
  • Sheena Irvine, Community Champion, Morrisons
  • Claire McCabe, Store Manager, New Look
  • Joanne Hammond, Store Manager, Poundland
  • Sarah Patterson, Store Manager, Tesco
  • Simon Cuzner, Branch Manager, Waitrose

Distribution and delivery hero award

  • Liam Hayward, DC Operations Assistant Manager The Body Shop
  • John Mark Brown, Delivery Driver, The Co-Op
  • Birmingham distribution team, Currys
  • Logistics Safety Team, Sainsbury’s
  • Jhorvis Tyrell, Warehouse Operative, M&S
  • Paul Mooney, Excellence Manager, Ocado Group
  • AJ Jones and Alex Tansley, Engineers, Ocado Group
  • Andrew Wiseman, LGV Team Manager, Ocado Group

Head office hero award

  • Customer Care Team, Asos
  • Feel As Good As New – cross functional team, Boots UK
  • Steve Bird, Wellbeing Manager, Currys
  • Customer Contact Centre, Iceland Foods
  • Alison Booth, Laura Curtis, Mark Hughes, Head of Property, Head of VM, Maintenance Manager, Jigsaw
  • People Team, New Look
  • People Team, Pets at Home
  • Group Safety and Insurance Team, Sainsbury’s
  • Distribution and Fulfilment Team, Tesco
  • The Digital Customer Experience Tribe, The Very Group

Diversity champion award

  • Gavin Gillie, Assistant Store Manager, The Body Shop
  • Deb Garrett, Wellness & Inclusion Partner, B&Q
  • Leanne Cahill, CEO, Bravissimo
  • Peter Batt, Divisional Managing Director, The Co-Op
  • Geoffrey Williams, Global Head of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Dr Martens
  • Prince Okoro, Store Manager, EE
  • Louise Blaize, Display Planner and M&S Culture & Heritage Network Co-Chair, Marks & Spencer
  • Hannah Berman, Senior Talent Acquisition Business Partner, Moonpig
  • Alice Cleary, Chief Marketing Officer, schuh
  • Joanne Mackie, Customer and People Director, Superdrug and Savers
  • Leon Donald, Buying Manager, Food – Fresh, Tesco

Best new store award

  • The Body Shop, Edinburgh St James Quarter
  • Boots, Welwyn Garden City
  • The Floor Room by Carpetright, Tottenham Court Road, London
  • Central England Co-op, Lichfield
  • Eataly London
  • Holland & Barrett, Knightsbridge, London
  • Homebase, Bradford
  • Nespresso, Bluewater Shopping Centre, Kent
  • Situ Live, Westfield Shopping Centre, London
  • Sports Direct, Oxford Street, London

The customer experience award

  • Aldi Best Version of Us
  • ASOS Customer Care – Customer experience transformation
  • MarTech with the ‘feel good’ factor!, Boots UK
  • Convenient solutions delivering last mile locally, The Co-Op
  • Currys PC Builder with Hullabalook
  • Customer Service improvements, EE
  • Personalising the Experience, Harvey Nichols with SEC Newgate
  • Screwfix Sprint
  • Sky Glass Experience Bluewater
  • Whoosh & GetGo, Tesco

Best place to work award

  • Aldi
  • ASOS
  • B&Q
  • The Body Shop
  • Ocado Retail
  • Pets at Home
  • TJX Europe
  • The Very Group

The Relex responsible retailer award

  • Aldi
  • Amazon
  • Boots
  • The Co-op
  • H&M
  • Ikea UK and IE
  • Joules
  • Nespresso
  • Superdry
  • Tesco

Fashion retailer of the year

  • ASOS
  • H&M U.K. & Ireland
  • In The Style
  • Joules
  • REISS
  • Sosandar
  • The Very Group

Grocer of the year

  • Aldi
  • Iceland Foods
  • Marks & Spencer
  • Morrisons
  • Ocado Retail
  • Sainsburys
  • Tesco

Speciality retailer of the year

  • Card Factory
  • COOK
  • Dreams
  • HelloFresh
  • ManoMano
  • The Perfume Shop
  • Pets at Home
  • schuh
  • Woolovers

Best own brand range or product award

  • New Best Ever Body Butters, The Body Shop
  • Boots Own Brand, Boots
  • Country Living Kitchen Collection, Homebase
  • Perricone MD, THG
  • Goodmove, M&S
  • Lua, Mamas & Papas
  • Simply Be – Own Brand Lingerie, N Brown
  • Site, Screwfix
  • Plant Chef, Tesco

Best retailer under £250m

  • Beaverbrooks
  • Farmison & Co
  • In The Style
  • Loaf
  • Net World Sports
  • REISS
  • Seasalt
  • Simba Sleep
  • SOSANDAR
  • WoolOvers

Best retailer over £250m

  • The Body Shop
  • Halfords
  • Ocado Retail
  • Pets at Home
  • Primark
  • Tesco
  • The Very Group
  • Wickes

Retail activist award

To be announced on the evening

Retail leader of the year

To be announced on the evening

Alixpartners outstanding leadership award

To be announced on the evening