ERT announces winners at sell-out ceremony

The ERT Awards 2011 took place in London yesterday (November 7), with retailers and manufacturers from all over the UK coming together to celebrate excellence and outstanding achievements in the electrical retailing sector.

After a record number of entries to the awards, the event, which was held at the prestigious Commonwealth Club venue in central London, was a complete sell-out.

Organised by ERT magazine, the awards, which are in their fourth year, are aimed at raising standards among retailers and manufacturers and rewarding them for their efforts.

Winning retailers this year included Barretts Digital World, Canterbury; Hughes Electrical, Lowestoft; Lords Electrical, Wigston; RGB, Ilford; and Stellisons, Benfleet.

Manufacturers who received awards were Bosch, De Dietrich, Glen Dimplex Home Appliances, Roberts, Samsung and Sony.

There was also a Special Achievement award, which was won by independent retailer John Hutchinson of Hutchinsons Hi-Fi & Vision in Cheltenham.

The ceremony, which was co-hosted by ERT's editor Sean Hannam and managing editor Andrew Davies, was divided into two sections – the Retailer Awards and Manufacturer Awards.

For the Retailer Awards, retailers were encouraged to enter and to provide supporting evidence as to why they should be in the running, or they were singled out on the strength of their performance in ERT’s monthly mystery shopping article, Take a Town.

Every retailer who entered the awards was immediately considered for the Independent Electrical Retailer of the Year category.

Nominations were then whittled down to a shortlist of finalists by a panel of judges made up of industry experts.

For the Manufacturer Awards, manufacturers were asked to enter the relevant awards categories and to provide supporting evidence to back up their entry. New for this year was the Product Innovation award, which wasn’t open for general entry, but, instead, was chosen by the ERT editorial team.

The winners for this year’s ERT Awards were:

Retailer Awards

Consumer Electronics Retailer of the Year, sponsored by  

• RGB, Ilford, Essex

Consumer Electronics Showroom of the Year, sponsored by  

• Barretts Digital World, Canterbury, Kent

Domestic Appliances Retailer of the Year, sponsored by  

• Lords Electrical, Wigston, Leicestershire

Domestic Appliances Showroom of the Year, sponsored by  

• Stellisons, Chelmsford, Essex

Euronics Retailer of the Year, sponsored by  

• Stellisons, Benfleet, Essex

Salesperson of the Year – Independents, sponsored by  

• Glen Chapman, Panasonic Store, Brighton, East Sussex

Salesperson of the Year - Multiples, sponsored by  

• Chantelle Johnson, Currys/PC World Megastore, Chester, Cheshire

Independent Electrical Retailer of the Year, sponsored by  

• Hughes Electrical, Lowestoft, Suffolk

Manufacturer Awards

Brown Goods Supplier of the Year, sponsored by  

• Roberts Radio

White Goods Supplier of the Year, sponsored by  

• Glen Dimplex Home Appliances

Domestic Appliance Product of the Year, sponsored by  

• Bosch Eco Silence Logixx dishwasher – SMS69L22GB

Consumer Electronics Product of the Year, sponsored by  

• Samsung 8 Series 3D LED Smart TV

Training Award, sponsored by  

• Sony Training Team

Product Innovation Award, sponsored by  

• De Dietrich DTiM1000C Piano zoneless induction hob

Special Achievement Award, sponsored by  

• John Hutchinson (Hutchinsons Hi-Fi & Vision)

Said ERT editor, Sean Hannam: "The ERT Awards is the industry’s must-attend event. It was great to see so many people come together to celebrate outstanding achievements in the electrical retailing sector. Congratulations to all of the winners.”

Mr Hannam then went on to thank the awards sponsors Amdea, Euronics, Intellect, LG, Miele, Retra, Sony and Taylist Media.