The Oracle Retail Week Awards are always a special occasion, but this year the event went to a new level.

The Oracle Retail Week Awards are always a special occasion, but this year the event went to a new level. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many of the biggest retail names in one room, and it was a bit surreal in the VIP reception to see people like Terry Leahy and his replacement Phil Clarke rubbing shoulders with the likes of Philip Green and Ken Morrison.

It was that sort of evening though. For those of you who haven’t seen our special issue today, we took the unprecedented step of awarding two lifetime achievement awards, to Sir Terry Leahy and Sir Stuart Rose. They are both unique retailers and, having both retired since the start of the year, we felt we absolutely had to recognise both.

Stuart’s award was presented by his great pal Charles Dunstone, who painted a very recognisable picture of Stuart as a suave James Bond type, and told some hilarious anecdotes including one where he described Rupert Murdoch as the world’s most determined paper boy to his face. Stuart himself gave a great speech, paying tribute to his colleagues at M&S and displaying the passion for retail he’s exhibitied for the whole of his career. We’ve not seen the last of him yet.

Then it was Sir Ken Morrison’s turn to pay tribute to Sir Terry. Ken - who himself was recipient of the lifetime achievement award three years ago - gave a wonderful speech, which really came from the heart.He described how in Morrisons’ darkest hour following the takeover of Safeway, it was Terry who spoke up for him in the papers. Ken, who was visibly moved by the occasion, described Terry as the greatest businessman of the late 20th and early 21st century.

When Terry came up to accept the award - his second of the night having won Retail Leader of the Year - the warmth between the two was clear. As you’d expect, his speech was as humble and understated as the man himself, and he too paid tribute to his colleagues at all levels of the business, and said some nice things about Retail Week. He said we wrote from the position of liking the industry, which is true - we do. Retail is great and our awards night really brings that home.

All the other award winners were hugely deserving of their accolades too, including the John Lewis Partnership which won the highly prestigious Retailer of the Year, while Majestic Wine did the double winning two awards for speciality retailer and the customer service award. Store manager of the year brought the biggest cheer of the night, for Maureen Milligan for B&Q, and she certainly looked the happiest person in the room, and quite possibly the whole of London. Her celebrations embodied what retail is all about, which is the people who work in it. Terry, Stuart and JLP’s Charlie Mayfield all highlighted this, and there could be few better role models than the two winners of our lifetime achievement award. No wonder they both got such warm ovations from around the room. A truly memorable night.