There’s more to retail than turning a profit. As this year’s Retail Week Awards sponsored by Salesforce have highlighted, recognition for a job well done goes beyond figures.

“I’ve made a lot of people very rich. In 10 years we’ve paid £1.2bn in tax. That will help build a lot of hospitals and schools.”

As always Sir Malcolm Walker, the Iceland legend who is this year’s very deserving recipient of the AlixPartners Outstanding Contribution to Retail Award at the Retail Week Awards sponsored by Salesforce, is on the money.

There’s no shame in making millions. Otherwise, why would entrepreneurs bother to build businesses? They rightly enjoy the fruits of their labour, paid for by long hours, unstinting drive and the desire to make an impact that all goes into creating great companies.

The Retail Week Awards 2018 sponsored by Salesforce

For a full list of all the award winners, click here.

But, as Walker has pointed out, the direct financial rewards are only a part of what drives contemporary businesses and their leaders.

The wealth they create filters through to others in everything from pay to pensions. Equally, they play a vital part – too easily taken for granted – in improving society generally.

Taking the initiative

Walker’s Iceland is a case in point.

The retailer has been recognised for its contributions to the community with its campaign in search of a cure for dementia, while also helping those suffering from it.

It’s not simply a fundraising initiative but one that has changed how the company operates, reflected in special training for tens of thousands of shopfloor staff.

Walker’s personal story is one of downs as well as ups, but every setback has been met with resilience and spurred renewed determination to succeed.

That too mirrors the bigger story of retail in recent years as companies have turned challenge into opportunity. Tesco, which picks up our grocery award, is just one example.

Versatility, and the ability to renew and innovate is evident right across our Awards, which feature established names and rising stars alike.

Spanning the range from Asos and Amazon to Card Factory and Kingfisher’s Screwfix, achievements in bricks, clicks and all points in between are celebrated.

Retail remains, and should be recognised as, a driving force in improving ordinary people’s lives. Its price competitiveness, product quality, convenience and openness to change mean that it continues to democratise goods once only available to a few through any channel shoppers like.

Has life in retail over the past year sometimes been difficult? Definitely.

But the nation of shopkeepers continues to live up to its name amid the dramatic transformation precipitated by new technology.

Throughout this year and beyond, we can expect much more change in retail.

The evolution of retail

Look at Shop Direct. Doesn’t it seem a long time ago, and how much it has changed, since it was called Littlewoods – itself a name that in its day was numbered among retail’s greats?

Today, reinvented as a pureplay, Shop Direct is once again setting industry standards – not just as a digital trailblazer but as an employer, for which it has won an award this year.

As well as developing the shopkeeping skills appropriate to the 21st century, it has put staff wellbeing at the top of its agenda.

It’s an approach that makes retail sense as well as being in tune with the priorities of the young people it must attract to stay relevant in a time of technological change.

“Retail remains, and should be recognised as, a driving force in improving ordinary people’s lives”

Asos chief executive Nick Beighton, the winner of our Clarity Retail Leader of the Year Award, epitomises the industry’s shift as a new style of leader, representative of new thinking and new ways of doing things.

As the industry changes, so too have our Awards. We’ve split the traditional ‘retailer of the year’ category into three in order to make them more representative of the entire industry, rewarding up-and-comers as well as the traditional big names.

But what hasn’t changed is how the Awards capture the very best of retail – an industry constantly renewing itself to better cater for shoppers.

All the winners deserve recognition for their great achievements.

Their awards will help them cement their appeal to shoppers, enthuse and motivate existing staff and attract the new talent that will ensure success in the future. Many congratulations to all of them.

For a list of all the award winners in full, click here.