Convenience Store and The Grocer are looking for the best convenience stores in the country, which we will acknowledge with a prestigious Convenience Retail Award.

Thursday 19 March is set to be Oscar night for the top convenience stores in the land.

And if you are wondering whether your store is in with a chance of a nomination for the night, just ask the reigning Convenience Retailer of the Year David Charman of Spar Parkfoot, Kent, whose story of success has continued all the way through the year, from the triumph at the 2014 event in March.

“Initially, the idea of entering a convenience awards made us stop and think: are we at that level? How do we compare to the best standalone convenience stores in the market?” he said. “Spar were keen for us to enter, so we thought okay, let’s try.

“When we won we were absolutely overjoyed. It is brilliant that we managed to stand out among the peer group. We wanted people to think this is a great c-store, and the award shows that to be the case.

“It’s been a fantastic period overall since we won; we’ve met a lot of new people, worked with new suppliers and I like to think we’ve earned some respect for the forecourt sector as a whole. It’s been good for the staff, too. It has proved to them that they are working somewhere successful, and that they are helping to make the business a success. They enjoy working at this high level and the kudos that the win brings.”

And customers have bought into the idea too, added David. “People come up to us and say we can see why you’ve won the award, and how nice it is to have a place like this in the village. And it all drives business for us.”

How to enter

All entries must be made on the official entry form. You can:

Web: Enter online at  www.cr-awards.co.uk

Call: Rebecca George on 01293 610422

Email: rebecca.george@wrbm.com

Entries must be received by Friday 21 November

The awards presentation and dinner will be held at 155 Bishopsgate, London, on Thursday 19 March. All national award and special award finalists will be invited with a guest to attend the awards dinner on a complimentary basis.

 

What we are looking for

To be in with a chance of winning, we are looking for stores with high standards of cleanliness, merchandising and a smart in-store environment. A brilliant and enticing product range is a must, as is a proven track record of business success. We love to see great staff fully engaged with great customer service and community activities, and we like a bit of innovation, too. What is it that makes your store really stand out from the rest? If you think that you have all these attributes and more, then don’t delay: ask for your paper entry form or online entry today!

CRA 2015

The Awards categories

The awards programme is split into two parts. The store awards celebrate outstanding all-round achievement across the store as a whole and are divided into sections based on store size - small, medium and large, with medium-sized stores divided into multiple and independent sub-categories.

Best Independent Convenience Store

(Nine stores or fewer in same ownership)

Best Multiple Convenience Store

(10 stores or more)

Best Small Store

(1,500sq ft or smaller)

Best Large Store

(3,000-10,000 sq ft)


There are also a number of specialist category awards to recognise outstanding achievement in one of the key disciplines of modern convenience retailing. These are:

Community Retailer of the Year

sponsored by PayPoint

Responsible Retailing Award,

sponsored by Imperial Tobacco

Best Customer Service Award

sponsored by Bestway

Best Use of Technology

sponsored by The Retail Data Partnership

National Lottery Retailer of the Year

sponsored by Camelot

Off Licence Store of the Year

sponsored by Pernod Ricard UK

Excellence in Impulse Award

sponsored by Mars Chocolate

Product of the Year

sponsored by Best-One

Best Chilled Food Retailer

Energy Efficient Store of the Year

Zero Tolerance Award for Crime Prevention

Best New Store

Best Communication to Shoppers