London calling – this goes out to all independent retailers across the country who believe in their stores and the job they do for their communities. This is your chance to enter in up to three categories for the coveted 36th Asian Trader Awards.
Nominations are still open – just visit the Asian Trader Awards website to apply – and will remain so until June 13. The 2025 ceremony takes place on Bonfire Night, Wednesday November 5, when the best lightshow in the UK will be taking place inside the ballroom of the Westminster Park Plaza Hotel, right on the River Thames and directly opposite Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.
The Asian Trader Awards always aim to represent and recognise excellence across the entire field of convenience channel activity, and as a result we have sixteen different prizes, plus a reader-voted Manufacturer’s Award section – for the products that have done the most for your business – and a Wholesale Depot of the Year that you also get to vote for, to reward and recognise those who have done a great job keeping you stocked with all the right products, at the right prices, over the past year.
So don’t delay, go to the Asian Trader website, click on the Awards menu and scroll down the page to the dedicated button that says, “ENTER THE AWARDS”. There are a few boxes where you answer some questions about yourself and a place to upload images of you, your staff and your store – easy as that!
Over the summer, our roving judge, the sagacious Alan Ramsay, will be criss-crossing the country, visiting the stores of contestants, so that the judging panel can have first-hand information about the qualities and features of the potential winners – vital for making a final decision (a task that grows more difficult every year as the standard continues to improve).
On the night
The Asian Trader Awards 2024 was a jam-packed evening of fun and celebration. Since the end of lockdown, each event seems to have outshone the previous one: fuller, louder, with sumptuous food and great entertainment. The Asian Trader Awards are the perfect opportunity to enjoy a great night, meeting up with friends and colleagues, and of course making new contacts and meeting industry figures – all the while with music, celebrity speakers and hosts.
Keeping abreast of the times, we have added another award to the 2025 roster – the Best Smokeless Alternatives Retailer of the Year – just as last year we added the Businesswoman of the Year award, which was hotly contested and brilliantly won.
The other awards (and remember you can choose up to three categories you think best represent you) are Independent Retailer of the Year Award, Spirit of the Community, Impulse Retailer, Symbol Convenience Retailer, Bakery Retailer, Food-to-Go, The Next Gen, Convenience Chain, Local Hero, Tobacco Retailer, Responsible Retailer, Off Licence Retailer, World Food Retailer – and the ultimate, the coveted Asian Trader of the Year.
So, hop on over to the Asian Trader Awards website today (https://asiantraderawards.co.uk/categories/) and we look forward to you joining us at the Westminster Park Plaza for the best evening of the year.
