County MP Martin Whitfield is urging East Lothian’s small shopkeepers to enter this year’s Best Small Shops Competition, celebrating the creativity of small shops and the central role they play in local communities.
The Best Small Shops Competition is open to any small shop* operating in the UK. The competition is free to enter and all shops who enter will also be promoted to consumers through an online Indie Retail Directory.
Shopkeepers can nominate their businesses by submitting an entry by 8am on Monday 9th September. For 2019 competition entrants will be challenged with promoting the benefits of their retail offering to consumers with the initial selection process being voted on by the general public at www.indieretail.uk
The judges will be looking for evidence of a small shops’ entrepreneurial spirit, ways that they have been innovative in their business and what they have done to have a lasting positive impact on their community.
The shortlisted small shops will be invited to a competition reception in November to find out who will be crowned the Best Small Shop for 2019.
Martin Whitfield MP said:
“East Lothian boasts an enviable variety of wonderful small shops providing a wide range of services in communities across the county. This competition is an excellent opportunity to highlight some of them to a wider audience and celebrate their contribution.
“I am urging local shopkeepers to consider entering this year’s competition to help promote themselves to shoppers and potentially secure a successful entry from East Lothian. Success in the competition would help boost the small shop sector throughout the county and I hope some local businesses will enter.”
The entries for 2019’s Best Small Shop competition are now open. Entries can be submitted at www.indieretail.uk/best-small-shops/best-small-shops-competition-2019/
*For the purposes of the competition, a small shop is defined as a non-corporate business selling goods or services to the public for use or consumption rather than for resale, from a business rated premises in the UK.