The 21st Retail Week Awards with Oracle is an opportune moment to reflect on the change that continues to characterise this industry.

In 1995 as we handed out the first of many trophies to celebrate the extraordinary achievements of this great sector, the seismic shifts in the retail landscape since would have been impossible to grasp.

Technology, in particular, has reshaped our world and is fuelling change at such a pace that it often feels impossible to take a snapshot of the present before it disappears.

Under such circumstances, it is easy to dismiss the past as irrelevant as historical data becomes increasingly powerless to answer the question ‘what happens next?’.

But even a cursory glance at the winners of the Retail Week Awards over the past 21 years would demonstrate the folly of that approach.

While Retail Week has shone a spotlight on the projects, campaigns and advances in technology and strategy that have been the milestones of retail’s rapid evolution, it has been the humanity of the industry and the people behind those achievements we have sought to applaud.

It has always been the great innovators and entrepreneurs who are drawn to lead retail that have controlled its destiny. In understanding that we are able to draw from a rich heritage of timeless values, which have always been part of retail, in order to find inspiration to face the modern challenges.

This year’s winners enter that pantheon for others to draw inspiration from.

And in the form of Mark Price, Richard Pennycook and the leadership of Dixons Carphone we have individuals who have shaped businesses that meld the historic values and qualities of retail’s proud past with the skills and drive to face the challenges of today.