On Thursday 10^th Jan 2013 the Mayor of Seaford, Linda Wallraven presented the trophy donated by Cllr Sam Adeniji for the Seaford' Favourite Independent Retailer of the Year 2012 to David & Helen Pollard of Seaford Health Store.

To help promote local shops in Seaford and to encourage people to use our Independent local shops which are not part of a chain, why I am championing the idea of people voting for their “Favourite Independent Retailer of the year” and “Do your Christmas Shopping in Seaford month”

Public winner

In addition everyone that votes stood a chance of winning £100 to spend in the shop they voted for. The winner is Mr Michael Still and he voted for Paul’s Plaice.

Response

The responses from both local retailers in Seaford and from members of the public were very reassuring. A total of 45local independent shops took part in the scheme and a total of 2140 votes were cast. Many of the shoppers I spoke to mentioned that this initiative helped drew their attention to some of the some wonderful independent retailers we have in Seaford

Top 5 Winners

1^stplace -           Seaford Health Store

2^nd place -         Toy Town (Toys)

3^rd place -          Millies Boutique

4^th place (joint) - Fotobox and L Cameron & Son Ltd

5^th place -            Amber Florist

The winner of the £100 prize is Mr Michael Still and they will be spending their winnings at Paul’s Plaice.

Future

My wish is that this initiative is the beginning of a dialogue with Seaford retailers. I have been to many of the shops and over few weeksI intend to continue this conversation. A lot of issues and ideas have been raised from my conversation with local retailers and I am confident that over the next few months many more local initiatives will be championed that will help promote our local shops and our lovely seaside town.

This is the first time that a Favourite Independent retailer of the Year initiative has been done in Seaford and I hope it has been found to be successful in helping to promote local shops and in encouraging people to shop local. I hope that the initiative will continue future years

Contact

Seaford Favourite Independent shop of the year 2012 : Seaford Health Store Contact David & Helen Pollard on 01323 893472

Winner £100: Mr Michael Still on 01323 896408

Winning £100 shop: Paul’s Plaice on 01323 894714