Judging

Business in the Community

Business in the Community is pleased to support the 2011 Retail Industry Awards, in particular Community Retailer of the Year and the new Most Sustainable Retailer of the Year categories. The vision of Business in the Community is to support businesses – to enable them to act responsibly and to help build a sustainable future. We therefore bring significant insight and knowledge into what responsible retailing involves. We also have a 30-year history of  supporting businesses to take action in their local communities. By bringing our extensive knowledge and experience of developing and assessing awards criteria, we aim to work with the Retail Industry Awards to make them the most respected and sought-after awards in retail. We are especially pleased to have been able to make a significant contribution towards the development of the new Most Sustainable Retailer of the Year category. It is vitally important that retailers of all sizes recognise the role they can play in tackling some of the critical challenges we face as a society.

Nielsen

The Nielsen Company is delighted to support the Retail Industry Awards once again
in 2011. We have worked with the awards for several years, helping to judge the
entrants across many categories. We feel we bring our market knowledge and retail
expertise to the panel and help to ensure that every entrant is judged on their merits.
We are proud of our reputation as an impartial industry authority and we hope
we bring sound judgement to the process. Every year we see the Retail Industry
Awards grow in prestige and when we see the stamp displayed by winners in stores
or on packaging we feel proud to be a part of it.

IGD

IGD makes a difference by providing market intelligence, supply chain best practice and consumer insight to the food and grocery industry worldwide. Our market-leading expertise in these areas is shared through bestin- class online services Retail Analysis, Supply Chain Analysis and ShopperTrack, at high-profile conferences and trade briefings, through our centre of excellence for learning and development, the IGD Academy, and through customised research projects. Our unique position at the heart of food and grocery enables our 650-plus member companies to identify and harness opportunities in the UK and beyond. Further details on our work, plus sample research and a host of free factsheets and best practice guides are available on www.igd.com.

Kantar Worldpanel

Kantar Worldpanel is delighted to continue its partnership with the Retail Industry Awards for another year. These awards have grown in stature and provide reward and recognition for outstanding achievement in one of the most competitive retail industries in the world. In 2011 we are growing our consumer panel by 20% to 30,000 UK households. This doesn’t simply mean a bigger panel – it will enable us to provide even better data quality and enriched consumer understanding by comprehensively covering all aspects of the shopper journey. Having judged these awards for several years, I am always impressed by the quality of many of the entries. For independent retailers in particular, I have great respect for the commitment and enthusiasm shown by both owners and staff. – Ed Garner, Communications Director, Kantar Worldpanel

 BPEX/EBLEX

Beef, pork and lamb remain at the centre of so many family meals. The red meat fixture is, therefore, a critical part of every retailer’s offering where in-store merchandising and display can play such an important part in the overall success of the store. Little wonder, then, that when the Meat Retailer of the Year category was introduced to the Retail Industry Awards last year it not only produced entries of the highest quality, it was clearly evident that the category was going to be fiercely competed. EBLEX and BPEX were privileged to be involved in judging the entries to the Meat Retailer of the Year category and we look forward to our continued involvement this year in support of what will again surely be a vigorously contested category with entries of the highest quality that reflect the category itself.

Mintel

 
As Director of Retail Research, I have a wide experience of retailers and retailing and I can bring this to bear on all the sectors I judge. Mintel has the data to put them into context, judge their performance and rank them against their peers. Mintel has the consumer research to understand how consumers are thinking and what they are looking for in the retailers they use. – Richard Perks, Director of Retail Research, Mintel

Seafish

Seafish, the authority on seafood, is proud to support the Seafood Retailer of the Year award. Seafood sales in the UK continue to show excellent growth and the category is an important and prestigious part of the retail sector. This award appraises entrants on a variety of criteria, including quality standards and best practice, and places increasing importance on how entrants address issues of responsible and sustainable sourcing, and how they encourage consumers to widen their consumption of lesser-known species.

SymphonyIRI

SymphonyIRI Group is once again delighted to continue our partnership with the Retail Industry Awards 2011. It is always a pleasure to see the high-calibre entries and we look forward to judging with interest. We understand the challenges, pressures and debates facing retailers and are ideally placed to provide a holistic and objective view throughout the judging process. SymphonyIRI Group helps enable faster decisions for shopper-centric strategies, with a unique combination of deep-level market insight, advanced analytics and technology solutions. Personally, I look forward to the judging process and assessing the submissions that have a distinctive edge, to be able to acknowledge and reward the best retailers in their sector. – Mark Hamilton Bowker, UK Retail Director

Verdict

Verdict Research is the UK’s leading authority on retailing and publishes unrivalled independent analysis of the retail industry. With more than 25 years’ experience, Verdict has close relationships with major UK retailers and access, at the highest level, to key executives working in the top 300 retailers to hear their views at first hand. Verdict reports provide clients with a complete picture of the retail sector and unique forecasts to help UK retailers, manufacturers, service suppliers, investment analysts, consultants and the media with strategic planning.

 Championing our independent retailers

“You can’t always sit in your corner of the forest and wait for people to come to you…you have
to go to them sometimes.” Winnie the Pooh may be better known for his love of honey than his
retail advice, but these wise words neatly sum up the challenge facing independent retailers in
2011.

In truth, it should never have been enough simply to open the doors and wait, but in the good
times it often was. That cannot be said of today’s mega-competitive, cut-throat High Street,
where retailers must go in search of shoppers, and by using all the retail weapons at their
disposal communicate that most nebulous of constructs, ‘best value’, to entice them through
the door.

At SRCG we have been heartened by the way our local independent retailers have risen to this
challenge and we see the Retail Industry Awards as not only an accolade to reward the very
best in our industry, but also as a tangible competitive advantage the winner can “take to the
people”, as Pooh might have put it.

The word-of-mouth buzz generated by winning the most recognised award in the industry
quickly stirs up local interest and we find that winning retailers, encouraged by this response,
are pushed to deliver higher standards year on year. As a result, they enjoy even greater
commercial success on the back of their victory.

In the Independent Retailer category, our short-listed finalists face mystery shoppers, store
videos, retailer interviews and financial interrogation. The merits of each entry are then debated
by a judging panel comprised of senior executives from the top UK symbol groups. These judges
have been there and done it and the eventual winners they choose are worthy champions.

At SRCG we are proud to be associated with the Retail Industry Awards and, as always, we wish
everyone who enters the very best of luck.

Dr Neill Sherrell
Managing Director – srcg ltd