24 October 2014
Celebrating the Very Best
Bestway and Batleys staff joined together with the top FMCG companies to salute the remarkable success of independent retailers last night at the 13th annual Retail Development Awards at the prestigious Grosvenor House Hotel in Park Lane, London.
Hosted by the Group’s CEO Zameer Choudrey and Bestway Wholesale’s Managing Director Younus Sheikh, the glittering event recognises the achievements of Bestway and Batley’s retail customers.
The nationwide scheme, supported by the biggest names in FMCG, rewarded retailers from across the UK with the winning retailers sharing a prize fund of £32,000.
And to top off a remarkable year for Scotland, the overall winner of the Retail Development Awards was Abdul Rashid of Salina Mini Market in New Stevenson (pictured here with wife Khalida Rashid, Bestway Group CEO Zameer Choudrey and MD Younus Sheikh), who scooped the top prize of £10,000.
Speaking at the awards, Bestway’s group chief executive, Zameer Choudrey said: “To be a successful wholesaler and a valued supplier to our customers, we have to ‘think outside the outer’. Wholesale is no longer just about shifting boxes. It‘s about being collaborative and developing partnerships at customer level.
"Driving up store standards is critical to the development of the independent channel as we strive to help our customers compete in the increasingly challenging convenience sector. Investing in them and helping their businesses grow matters a great deal to us and that is why the Retail Development Awards are so important to us as a company.
"We are here to reward the successes of those individuals who have provided outstanding service and support to their local communities in the past twelve months. We must also recognise the hard work of the hundreds of retailers who will not be rewarded here tonight but who have made giant strides in developing their own businesses through their attendance at the RDA Seminars.”
The awards are the culmination of the Retail Development Programme run by Bestway which include three two-day workshops in which retailers are challenged to go back to their stores and implement the learnings from the sessions.
Awards are then given to those who excelled and Bestway is proud to have helped more than 5,000 independent retailers to build a more profitable business since the programme’s inception.
Roll of honour
Overall Winner
Mr Abdul Rashid, Best In Salina Mini Market, New Stevenson
Northern Winner
Mr Kalpesh and Meeta Raja, Ishiv Ltd, Leicester
Southern Winner
Mr Santhosh Sundaresan, BMP Star Supermarket, London
Scottish Winner
Mr Ahmet Dursun, Prego Local, Edinburgh
Community Award
Mr Gurinder Ghag, Best One Radford Stores, Radford Semele
Best-One National Winner
Mr Muhammad Yusuf, Best-One Green Ocean Ltd, Manchester
Northern Runner-up
Mr Bhupinder Gill, Best One Bedeburn Stores, Newcastle
Southern Runner-up
Mr Hasan Gozel, Shopping Garden Ltd, London
Scottish Runner-Up
Mr Mohammed Issa MBE, 1st Stop to Shop, Dundee
Best-One Runner-up
Mr Manish Hira, Best One, Sheffield
Category Awards
Chilled & Frozen
Mr Paul Mather, Sherston Post Office Stores, Sherston
General Grocery
Mr Abbas Boztepe, Your Local Supermarket, Hornsey, London
Household & Health and Beauty
Mr Peter Paddock and Mrs Christine Jones, Dewfresh, Birmingham
Tobacco
Mrs Saedet Demiralam, Dyson Food Centre, London
Confectionery
Mr Bhadresh Patel, Plummers News, Barking
Crisps & Snacks
Mrs Debbie McMeiken, Vigo News Ltd, Chester-le-Street
Soft Drinks
Mr Mohammed Saleem, Kashmir Watan Foodstores, Preston
Water
Mrs Saedet Demiralam, Dyson Food Centre, London
Wines & Spirits
Mr Peranantham Sellathamby, MacDonals Store, Coventry
Beer & Cider
Mr Mehmet Atma, Great Food & Wine Store, Shoreham by Sea
Pet Food
Mr Jeganathan Muraleetharan, Best one Mini Supermarket, Whiston, Merseyside
Baby Food
Mr Irfan Khan, Capital Supermarket, London