Hunters of Helmsley named Britain’s Best Small Shop

PayPoint honours winners of Parliament’s search for the country’s best small shop

Welwyn Garden City, 25 February 2015: Hunters of Helmsley, a family-run delicatessen in the famous market town in Yorkshire, has been named Britain’s Best Small Shop.

The Best Small Shops Competition, organised by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Small Shops and sponsored by PayPoint, the leading multi-channel payments specialist, celebrates the entrepreneurial spirit and community ethos that is so typical of small shops in the UK.

More than 320 small shops from all corners of the country were nominated for the award, covering every type of shop – from convenience stores and bookshops to opticians, chocolatiers, cycle shops, bakeries, toy shops, skateboard and snowboarding, music shops and many more. The owners of 20 small shops that made it into the shortlist were invited to a reception at the House of Commons on Wednesday, 25^th February. Runners up were The Mainstreet Trading Company, a bookshop and café in the Scottish Borders, and Nisa Local, Toddington, a convenience store in Bedfordshire.

Speaking at the Awards, Andrew Goddard, Retail Director at PayPoint, said: “We are delighted to be sponsoring the Best Small Shop Competition again this year. As I travel up and down the country visiting the many retailers in our network, I often take a look at what other shops are doing and am continually inspired by their innovation, entrepreneurialism, creativity and commitment. It is no coincidence that surveys constantly show that the nation’s favourite shopping destinations are those with a range of independent, small shops offering individuality and diversity.

“Hunters of Helmsley is a fantastic example of a small, family-run shop that’s everything that’s best in retailing, from its support for local producers to the attention given to every detail of the product range, merchandising and commitment to offering customers the best food and drink the world has to offer.  Chris and Christine Garnett, along with all their staff, are worthy winners of this award.”

Simon Danczuk MP, chair of the All-Party group, added: “Small shops really are the backbone of Britain, providing essential services for local people and creating jobs in their communities. I think it is right that Parliament acknowledges the vital role small shops play and seeks to recognise and reward the very best small shops across the country.

“Smaller retailers are often hugely influential in their local areas and provide the anchors for communities up and down the country. Small retailers have a connection with their customers that is much more personal and valuable than big chain shops, and I know many people really value this connection. Not only this, but there are countless examples of small retailers contributing to local projects, or helping out their neighbours on the high street.

The 20 shortlisted shops were:

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About PayPoint
PayPoint is an international leader in payment technologies, its solutions transforming payments for everyone from consumer and financial services companies to retailers, utilities, media, e-commerce, gaming and government clients.

PayPoint delivers payments and services by taking the complexity of multi-channel payments and translating it into convenient, simple, value-added solutions. It handles almost £15 billion from 800 million transactions annually for more than 6,000 clients and merchants.

With the backing of 24/7 operations centres with dual site processing, PayPoint is widely recognised for its leadership in payment systems, smart technology and service.

Retail networks
The PayPoint retail network across the UK numbers over 28,200 local shops (including Co-op, Spar, McColls, Costcutter, Sainsbury’s Local, Tesco Express, One Stop, Asda, Londis and thousands of independents), where it processes energy meter pre-payments, bill payments, benefit payments, mobile phone top-ups, transport tickets, BBC TV licences, cash withdrawals and a range of other transactions. In Romania, the retail network numbers over 9,000 terminals in local shops, helping people to make cash bill payments, money transfers, road tax payments and mobile phone top-ups. In the Republic of Ireland, over 500 terminals in shops and credit unions process mobile top-ups and bill payments.

Collect+, a joint venture with Yodel, provides a parcel drop-off and pick-up service at more than 5,800 PayPoint retailers. PayPoint’s ATM network numbers more than 3,900 ‘LINK’ branded machines across the UK, and 9,700 PayPoint terminals enable retailers to accept credit and debit cards.

Mobile and Online
PayPoint Mobile and Online (formerly trading as PayPoint.net, PayByPhone and Adaptis) handles over 142 million payments for parking, payments and consumer services.   In major cities in the UK, Canada, USA, France, Switzerland and Australia, its parking solutions make it easy for people to pay for parking by mobile, as well as providing electronic parking permits, automatic number plate recognition systems for car parks and penalty charge notices.

PayPoint’s core online payments platform is linked to 16 major acquiring banks in the UK, Europe and North America, delivering secure credit and debit card payments for almost 4,800 online merchants. Its suite of products ranges from transaction gateway to a bureau service, in addition to value-added services such as FraudGuard, an advanced service that mitigates the risk of fraud in card not present transactions.