Friday 24th 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

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