IRC UK hosts the Best Small Shops Competition 2018

John Norrie was delighted to be involved with Tranxactor as a sponsor and a member of the judging panel for this year’s awards. The awards are organised by the Independent Retailers Confederation (IRC) which represents around 100,000 independent retailers throughout the UK. The quantity and quality of entries was overwhelming. They showed so much innovation and initiative in the independent retail sector, with the winning entries demonstrating a real commitment to customer service and very strong community involvement.

The award ceremony, hosted at the Houses of Parliament, was also an opportunity to announce the launch of the new booost initiative, developed by Tranxactor in partnership with the IRC. booost is a technology toolkit that combines Loyalty, Gifting and Promotions in a mobile app for both merchants and consumers. It is an ‘umbrella’ programme that allows individual independent retailers to plug into the technology and manage their own loyalty and reward programmes, as well as accepting payment via a national digital Gift ‘Card’.

 

 

Pictured below Ruth George, MP and Chair of the APPG for Small Shops and John Norrie, CEO of Tranxactor with this year’s winner The Mainstreet Trading Company’s Bookshop & Café.

 

 

St Boswells-based Mainstreet, which this year celebrates its 10th year in business, was crowned the winner of the non-industry specific award after 25 retailers from a range of sectors were shortlisted last month. The prize’s two joint runners-up are Hopes of Longtown, an independent village store in Longtown near Hereford, and Longwell Records, an old fashioned record shop in Keynsham in Bristol.

For more information on the Independent Retailers Confederation, please visit https://www.indieretail.uk/