For more than 20 years, Retail Destination’s SCEPTRE Awards have been celebrating the brightest and the best in the retail destination industry. This year’s pre-eminent accolades in the shopping centre industry were held on Tuesday 23 November at the Royal Lancaster London Hotel, and put the spotlight on management teams, retailers and suppliers that demonstrated real excellence.
Following another 12 months of disruption, this year’s SCEPTRE Awards are extra special because of the unprecedented challenges presented to management teams by the pandemic. As you will see reflected by all this year’s incredible winners, management teams from across the country have risen to these challenges, and we would like to salute all the managers, security officers, cleaners, and all the other staff whose hard work and dedication has kept centres open to bring essential services to their communities.
We also give thanks to everyone who has entered and special congratulations to those of you that have been shortlisted. Every year the task of shortlisting and then choosing winners is no easy feat due to the exceptionally high quality of entrants we receive.
We could not have chosen our winners without the dedication of our judging panel, consisting of Simon Lewis, Iain Hoey, Lynette Howgate, Caroline Main, John Prestwich, and Carrie Saunders.
We also must give a special thank you to our SCEPTRE Awards host, Justin Moorhouse, and our sponsors City Dressing, Designa, Excel Parking Solutions, Hub Parking Technology, and Toolbox Marketing, without whom the awards would not be possible.
Young Achiever of the Year
Winner
Emily Burton – The Valley Evesham
Judges Comment: Emily is young, ambitious, tenacious and approaches her role with genuine care for her colleagues, tenants, stakeholders and shoppers, making her an outstanding individual with a bright future in the retail industry.
Highly Commended
Stephen Wall – St Johns Liverpool
Chloe O’Donnell – Idlewells Shopping Centre
Retail Liaison of the Year
Winner
The Mall at Cribbs Causeway
Judges Comment: Extensive research projects into understanding customers, development of the Cribbs Comms app, and essential support of tenants through lockdown are just a handful of reasons The Mall at Cribbs Causeway is a shining example when it comes to Retail Liaison.
Highly Commended
centre:mk
Festival Place
Covid Resilience Award
Winner
The Mall Cribbs Causeway
Judges Comment: Cribbs Causeway managed the COVID pandemic with aplomb. The Love for Lost COVID campaign was a huge success and they supported the local community by giving pop up space to local independents and there were 13 new store openings.
Highly Commended
Ayr Central
Eden Walk Shopping Centre
Operations Manager of the Year
Winner
Ian Pratt – Idlewells Shopping entre
Judges Comment: Ian gives 110% to his operational role managing not only Idlewells but six additional retail parks. His expertise has been key to transforming sustainability, landscaping and recycling practices across these schemes.
Highly Commended
Mike Atherton – The Mailbox
Marie Kyriacou-Edwards – Edmonton Green Shopping Centre
This award was sponsored by Excel Parking Solutions
Security Team
Winner
The Water Gardens Shopping Centre
Judges Comment: The Water Gardens security team set the standard, with all team members trained in mental health and suicide prevention, their hard work across the board ensuring that centre staff and shoppers alike feel safe and secure.
Highly Commended
Gunwharf Quays
Templars Square Shopping Centre
Sustainability Initiative of the Year
Winner
Idlewells Shopping Centre
Judges Comment: We loved so many of the initiatives carried out by the Idlewells tea, but no more so than the pre-loved school uniform recycling service, stopping disposal in landfill and working with local organisations to give this to deprived families in the community.
Highly Commended
St Johns Liverpool
Community Initiative of the Year
Winner
Castlegate & Wellington Square Shopping Centres
Judges Comment: We were impressed with the centre for engaging with the local children to promote literacy during such a difficult time and producing something everyone involved could be proud of.
Highly Commended
The Mall Wood Green
Galleries Shopping Centre
Marketing Manager of the Year
Winner
Rebecca Bird – Edmonton Green Shopping entre
Judges Comment: We were very impressed by the high standard of marketing Rebecca delivered throughout the pandemic, creating a brilliant and effective community covid marketing plan supporting and promoting retailers and engaging meaningfully with the community.
Highly Commended
Ian McGregor – Galleries Shopping Centre
Emily Palmer – Festival Place
This award was sponsored by Toolbox Marketing
Customer Services Team
Winner
Old Market Hereford
Judges Comment: The centre has proven itself to be an inclusive and welcoming environment for all its visitors. Particular praise must go to the installation of braille on directional signage and its 100% score for mystery shopping.
Highly Commended
Kingfisher Shopping Centre
This award was sponsored by Designa UK
Christmas Campaign of the Year
Winner
Middleton Grange Shopping Centre
Judges Comment: We were blown away by the success of Middleton Grange’s virtual Giving Tree, distributing over 174,000 Christmas presents to children across the UK without a budget. The simplicity and effectiveness of the initiative is a testament to what a retail destination can achieve when it has a great idea.
Highly Commended
The Mall at Cribbs Causeway
Car Park of the Year
Winner
Thorpe Park
Judges Comment: The implementation of Automatic Number Plate Recognition and QR codes demonstrate Thorpe Park as having a prime example of a people-friendly car park that focuses on ensuring a smooth journey for customers.
Highly Commended
Festival Place
All Ireland Manager of the Year
Winner
Billy Reid – ILAC Centre
Judges Comment: A great all round centre manager who is clearly very involved with the local community and delivers great results with a can-do attitude and commercial astuteness.
Manager of the Year – Small Centre
Winner
Jon Walton – Sovereign Centre
Judges Comment: Jon has achieved a lot since becoming the first new centre manager in almost 30 years, making lots of much needed improvements, increasing tenant engagement, and engaging with the local community.
Highly Commended
Claire Suggitt – Tunsgate Quarter
Steve Andrews – Hildreds Shopping Centre
This award was sponsored by City Dressing
Manager of the Year – Medium Centre
Winner
Kirsty Williams – Mill Gate Shopping Centre
Judges Comment: Kirsty has proven herself to be an excellent hands-on, pro-active manager with initiatives like TikTikTurf, as well as being heavily involved with the local community as Vice Chair of the Bury Town Centre Management Board.
Highly Commended
Debbie Hernon – Charter Walk Shopping Centre
Andrew Marmot – Parkway Shopping Newbury
Manager of the Year – Large Centre
Winner
Sabri Marsaoui – Edmonton Green Shopping Centre
Judges Comment: As manager Sabri delivered strong occupational performance at 99%, grew centre income through leasing during an incredibly challenging period, and diversified income across the centre. His close relationships with local authorities and tenants alike and the launch of community projects like the knife safe scheme are prime examples of why Sabri is so deserving of this award.
Highly Commended
Tony Elvin – Touchwood Solihull
Mark Rycraft – Middleton Grange Shopping Centre
Grand Prix
Winner
CBRE
Judges Comment: CBRE won this year’s points table by a comfortable margin with its entries showing operational excellence across the board. The shopping centre management operation is led by Carolyn Mantle, who has always led and driven her centre management teams. We admire her tenacity and her talent at getting the absolute best from her teams. She has contributed so much to so many and has had a positive impact within the industry.
This award was sponsored by Hub Parking Technology
