TOP of the shops: From the left are Town Square and Spindles manager Mike Flanagan; Town Centre manager Mark Lester; representatives from Arch Furniture; Enchanted Times; the Deputy Mayor, CIIr Wingate; Sarah Bevan-Fischer of Skillsmart Retail; Chamber local policy manager Carol Hopkins and Nasim Khan from Skidmore Cycles.

OLDHAM is top of the shops, and where we lead others will invariably be following.

 

The town has hosted the region's first retail awards, which proved so successful they will now become an annual event and are set to be used as a template for similar towns in the region.

 

Sixty five independent shops in Oldham centre entered the awards, and were visited by mystery shoppers and judged against specific retailing criteria.

 

Last week, Liquid Envy Night Club hosted a ceremony at which the Deputy Mayor of Oldham, Cllr Anne Wingate, handed out titles in four categories in front of an enthusiastic audience.

 

Greenwoods Menswear won the 'First Impressions' award; Skidmores Cycles the Instore Presentation' category; Enchanting Times the best Instore Promotion' title and a special award for best new business. The 'Customer Service' award was won by Arch Furniture.

 

The overall winner, ticking the most boxes in every category, was Skidmore Cycles, of Union Street. Skidmore has been established in the borough for decades, but present owner Nasim Khan only took over less than 12 months ago. He has a thriving concern. 

 

Mr Khan said: "It was a very nice surprise to win the award. I think the awards provide businesses with a good opportunity and I think they should be annual."

 

The event was jointly organised by Oldham Town Centre Partnership, Greater Manchester Chamber and national body Skillsmart Retail, which is the skills council for the retail sector. 

 

Sarah Bevan-Fischer, of Skillsmart Retail, said: "We want to see similar retail awards in every town in the North West, and the Oldham competition is the first. We chose to start with Oldham because the town has an excellent and active town centre partnership."

 

Chairman of the Oldham Town Centre Partnership, Mike Flanagan, hailed the awards a great success. "We are delighted with the support for the competition, and the quality of the entrants. We plan to make this an annual event, and I am sure it will become even bigger and better over the years," he said.