Ruth Edwards today announced the winner of her first annual Best Local Shop Award, giving people across Rushcliffe the chance to vote for their favourite local shops and highlighting their important role in communities across the constituency.
Over 400 votes were received for nearly 50 shops, with residents nominating a huge range of retailers, from their local grocery store, hardware shop, boutiques, newsagents and post offices.
After totalling up the votes, Ruth is delighted to announce that the first-ever winner is ‘The Good Weigh’ in Lady Bay, West Bridgford.
A crowd-funded enterprise which sells groceries with zero-waste and packaging, the business has gone from strength to strength since it opened on Trent Boulevard. Ruth was delighted to visit the store last weekend to present the award to owner Kate Cox.
The Good Weigh beat tough competition from other shops across the constituency including runners-up ‘The Little Boutique’ (Keyworth) and ‘The Bottle Top’ (Ruddington). Ruth also visited the runners-up to present their certificates and discuss the current business climate in Rushcliffe.
Speaking after her visit to the winning shop, Ruth said:
“In Rushcliffe, we take great pride in our high streets and villages. I wanted to give residents the opportunity to nominate their favourite local store and thank them for all their hard work during the lockdown. Rushcliffe’s small-business community has done a huge amount to support their customers and it’s nice to give some recognition of that.
“I would like to thank everyone who nominated a local shop and offer many congratulations to all the nominees, particularly our runners-up. The Little Boutique and The Bottle Top are fantastic businesses with incredibly loyal customers, they greatly deserve this recognition.
“We have a hugely diverse range of businesses here in Rushcliffe and I was particularly pleased to see so many new and innovative stores on the list. But there can only be one winner and I’m delighted to congratulate Kate and her team at The Good Weigh. It’s a really exciting business which shows that the future of retail doesn’t mean plastic packaging and loads of waste. The Good Weigh is a hugely important addition to the high-street and I look forward to regular future visits.
On receiving the award Kate said:
“I’m so proud to have been nominated for the best local shop award for Rushcliffe by our loyal customers, but to win is amazing.
“It’s been a really tough time for a lot of businesses during the epidemic, we’ve all had to adapt and change the way we do things and think about how we can get goods to the community while a lot of them were afraid to leave their homes.
“This recognition has shown that all of the hard work has really been appreciated, which means so much. Thanks to everyone who voted for The Good Weigh and for continuing with their zero-waste journey despite the obvious challenges.
Also, thanks to Ruth for running the awards and highlighting the challenges small shops have faced during this unique time in history.”