Nadelle and Eamon McKillop are pictured at the Retail Industry Awards 2024 in London, where they recently won the award for Independent Retailer of the Year.
A host of SPAR and EUROSPAR retailers in Northern Ireland have returned from the 2024 Retail Industry Awards having placed NI on the map for excelling at community retailing.
McKillop’s SPAR, Ballymena took home the award for Independent Retailer of the Year (up to 3,000 sq. ft.) and owner Eamon McKillop was praised by judges for his links to the local community citing he is the “biggest community player”.
Judges were also impressed by the store’s strong sales growth and range of recent improvements made to the store, including its in-store deli and ice cream offering.
“This is a fantastic retailer with a very strong community feel,” said one judge.
Eamon McKillop commented; “This is a really special award for us! As a community retailer, right in the heart of our neighbourhood and caring about our shoppers, local sporting clubs, schools and charitable organisations sets us apart from our competition.
“Not only are we providing quality products at value prices alongside local job opportunities, we are also engaging with our neighbours and supporting the causes they and our staff care about, and that is what independent retailing is all about.”
Patrick Doody, Sales and Marketing Director at Henderson Group added; “We are continuously impressed by the level of retail innovation shown by our independent retailers and it’s fantastic to see McKillop’s SPAR on the national stage winning very well-deserved awards. Eamon is one of our top players in the industry, managing an impressive business while giving back to his local community in many ways. Congratulations!”
Alongside McKillop’s SPAR’s success, Lynch’s EUROSPAR Trench Road in Derry/Londonderry took home the award for Fresh Produce of the Year.
Henderson Retail, which operates over 100 SPAR and EUROSPAR stores in Northern Ireland, was crowned Forecourt Retailer of the Year for the third year in a row, while the company also picked up Community Retailer of the Year.
Two of their stores were also honoured at the event: EUROSPAR Killyleagh was awarded Post Office Retailer of the Year and EUROSPAR Saintfield Road was named Forecourt Retailer of the Year.
The 2024 Retail Industry Awards took place on the 18thSeptember at The Brewery on Chiswell Street, London and were hosted by comedian, author and advocate for human rights, Shaparak ‘Shappi’ Khorsandi.
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