The greeting card and gift specialists impressed the judges who said “Mantons stood out as having a broad variety of achievements which impressed the judges, not just working to improve one aspect of their business but many elements at the same time. As the only Manx company to ever reach the final, Mantons has put the Isle of Man firmly on the retail map”.
Before being presented with the award, Mantons owner Chris Beards met with TV retail expert Mary Portas and commented “Having previously won awards for our customer service, product selection, marketing and window displays within the greetings card and gift sectors, it’s fantastic to be recognised by the UK's only awards that are open to every independent retailer in the British Isles.”
The Awards, now in their 17th year, were launched by the British Independent Retailers Association (BIRA) to recognise and reward the very best independent retailers in the U.K. and to celebrate inspiring businesses who are leading the way and exceeding in challenging times.
Every independent shop in the UK was eligible for the competition and the finalists were chosen on a range of qualities including the quality of products offered, customer shopping experience, and customer service. Of special interest to the judges were forward thinking, innovation and team work.
Commented Julie Conway head of BIRA events, "Just being selected as one of the five finalists is an amazing achievement for a retailer on a small island, considering that Mantons were up against some really prestigious businesses in some large cities. We received a very high standard of entries for this year’s BIRA Awards and are proud to announce Mantons Cards as our winner.”
"After winning a Retas award as the UK's best greeting card shop, everyone at Mantons is delighted to be named as the Independent Retailer of the Year, especially as we are the only Manx company to ever achieve this honour," commented owner Chris Beards. "This is well deserved recognition for all the hard work, effort and commitment to excellence and of course to helping our customers, which is something all of our team at Mantons takes great pride in".
