Following last week’s glittering Excellence in Housewares Awards night (October 5 at The Royal Lancaster London), winners of the retailer, product and supplier awards have been sharing their joy.
“Words cannot describe how delighted we are to have won both the Excellence in Service and Excellence in Product Development Awards,” stated Bryony Dyer, Dexam’s managing director. “Throughout the years, our principles have remained the same: innovation, reliability, friendliness and, above all, customer service. To have our principles recognised by the industry is a huge honour.”
She continued: “At Dexam, over 60 years of experience goes into products that look and work beautifully and we pride ourselves on being a friendly company that is all about people. We aim to give the best service in the industry and get the best out of everything and everyone. Congratulations to all the winners and to this year’s finalists. There is so much talent in our industry; it makes us proud to be part of it.”
Paying tribute to retailers, Jane Mason, commercial director of DKB Household, winner of The Top Tool or Gadget commented: “We were thrilled to receive this award, especially as it is judged by a broad spectrum of retail buyers. We would like to say a big thank you to all the retailers who have been so supportive during these past challenging couple of years and of course to Max Publishing for another splendid event and offering the industry a great opportunity to reconnect and network.”
At Dualit, Debbie McIvor-Main, marketing manager enthused: “We are so pleased to have won the Plugged In Award and especially for the Baby Food Maker; a product from a new range that we had been working on for several years and was very important to us that we got right. It’s great to know that the judges think so highly of the Baby Food Maker. We hope that winning such an esteemed award will help us to connect with even more new parents, whose time in the kitchen will be made that much easier with what we believe is a really useful, everyday product.”
Among the retailer winners, Amanda Bell, buying director for home at Morleys Group admitted: “We were obviously hoping for a win for Elys or Camp Hopson but also fully aware of the tough competition in that category, so were absolutely thrilled for Elys to get it. Then, we were completely blown away for Morleys to get the gia award – such an honour to represent the UK in Chicago. Having won it in a previous role I know the high standard of retailers in other markets so will make sure we make our evaluation form as strong as possible; we have some great things to talk about including Brixton.” In a message to organiser Max Publishing, Amanda added: “Thanks for yet again putting on a great evening of entertainment (Sara Barron was brilliant!), food, and awards.”
At Harts of Stur of Sturminster Newton, managing director Graham Hart commented: “We were stunned and very honoured to hear our name read out as winner of the 2022 Excellence In Online Retailing award. In what has been a hard year with the passing of my father, Philip, everyone at Harts has worked extremely hard to keep us at the top of our game. We would also like to thank our suppliers and customers, whose support and loyalty makes it worthwhile and possible. “
Winning their first award, David and Ione Crossley, owners of Salamander Cookshop, Wimborne enthused: “We and our team are delighted to win The Excellence in Training Award. We feel proud to be recognised alongside such an impressive range stores and housewares producers.”
They explained: “We came to the sector from education and the training “business” and a focus on learning about the industry and its products was a natural for us and still is. We believe that we best serve our customers by offering genuine product knowledge and expertise as well as great customer service backed up by well-designed systems and processes. Quite simply as lifelong learners great training is part of our DNA.”
Winning the Excellence in Retail Display Award – Independent, Potters Cookshop’s visual merchandiser Alison Hobbs confessed: “I could cry! Winning means so much to us and every year I try to improve the windows to be even better than the last. The competition was fierce in this category! I cannot do this without the support of my colleagues who help with the windows.”
After Potters won the Independent Cookshop of the Year, director Tom Carter also recognised the team effort: “What a shock! There were some amazing Cookshops in the category this year and even just be nominated is an achievement. This is a great reward for all the hard work by each member of staff we have.”
Meanwhile, having won The Icon Award, Burton McCall’s managing director Michelle Dickinson, said: “We are so grateful for the recognition on receiving the Excellence in Housewares Icon Award for Microplane. It is an honour to represent and work with this truly amazing brand.”
She continued: “Thank you to the panel for your time and dedication; it really does make all the hard work worthwhile when it’s recognised. It must have been an extremely tough decision as Microplane was up against some great competition, in fact two others (Peugeot and Bamix) which are represented by Burton McCall.” Michelle concluded: “As always, The Excellence in Housewares Awards was a fabulous night.”
Top: Shining examples: the spectacular, newly re-designed for 20222, Excellence in Housewares Awards trophies.
