The Asian Trader of the Year is the most celebrated and coveted award in the independent retail sector. The winners of this award have done a huge amount over the years to raise standards and transform the fortunes of the Convenience sector. Only a retailer who goes the extra mile can take this trophy home.

The award for Best Independent Retailer recognises an entrepreneur who has built a successful Convenience business. Offering a wide range of products, the winner will need to be an outstanding Convenience store which has seen spectacular results in both turnover and customer numbers.

The Spirit of the Community Award will reward a store which is truly at the heart of its community. The winning store will need to go beyond the call of duty to help customers and the neighbourhood.

The Best Impulse Retailer Award is for a shop which is exceptionally well merchandised and ensures all its ranges are immaculately displayed for maximum impact. The winner will provide outstanding customer service, offer promotions that are well executed with strong price points and will create excellent in-store theatre.

The Best Bakery Retailer Award is for a store with a beguiling bakery offering. The smell of freshly baked products makes a convenience store a pleasant place to be and tempts customers into a shop. Consequently, getting the in-store bakery right can give a business a massive boost.

This award recognises the fast-paced nature of current developments in the Convenience sector, and identifies the innovators who have adapted best to the changing tastes and needs of their customers with delicious ready-to-eat foods and meals – as stores in the sector evolve into a multi-service community hubs.

The pioneer generation of UK Convenience is now at or beyond retirement age, but their love of independent retail, their skill as merchandisers and their importance community figures, are often manifested in their daughters and sons who have carried on the in the trade. This award honours those who have best managed to prove that successful independent retail is indeed a family business with continuity across the generations.

This is a new award that recognises how one of the major elements of independent retail revenue – namely tobacco sales – is threatened by ever-increasing prices, regulation and restrictions. The profitable and healthier vape and heat-not-burn alternative is now being adopted by who are nimble, enterprising store-owners who are educating their customers about vaping.

The Asian Trader Manufacturer of the Year Award reflects the esteem readers of Asian Trader magazine have for suppliers and acknowledges the contribution manufacturers have made to our readers’ sales. Readers are invited to vote for the manufacturer who has best supported their business over the last year.

The Asian Trader Best Wholesale Depot Award rewards the wholesale depot which best meets the needs of its customers. Operating in a highly competitive market, wholesalers have to work hard and with passion to increase their turnover and customer base.

This is another new award that has been added to take stock of and celebrate the maturing of the convenience sector, as more and more impulse entrepreneurs expand into multiple sites and establish themselves as true convenience chains. The past year has seen local shopping assume a greater importance than ever before, making the prospects for the development of chain convenience very attractive.

“Above and beyond the call of duty” is a phrase that has characterised the independent grocery sector during the period of Covid-2, as retailers came to the rescue of their locked -down and vulnerable communities. From looking out for the welfare of the elderly to running individual delivering services to rival Ocado, the ingenuity and dedication of convenience retailers has stunned the country.

This is for the retailer who has excellently served their adult smoking customers despite restrictions. Tobacco provides pleasure for millions of people, so keeping them informed of range and offers, and ensuring supply, availability and good advice, is a paramount duty and skill of a fine storeowner and tobacco retailer.

The Responsible Retailing Award is given to a retailer who has demonstrated excellent adherence to legal and regulatory guidelines including the restricted sale of age-related products and working with authorities and their community to combat illicit trade in their area as well as a commitment to social responsibility and the environment.

Judges will be looking for evidence initiatives which show a robust age verification programme; co-operation with local authorities to restrict illicit sales; initiatives and measures, both instore and in the community, which reduces their carbon footprint and promotes sustainability in their community.

A new category that celebrates the fantastic offerings of the symbol groups and the way in which independent retailers can find a niche and great prosperity with them. The symbol group sector is dynamic and constantly evolving, and the winner will be a retailer who has used the advantages of membership to the full and with flair and originality