Retail showed again why it is the top industry for producing some of the finest talent around. Here we profile the winners on a night to remember

Store manager of the year: North of England

Sponsored by EDI
Winner Carmel Culshaw, The Disney Store, Manchester

The judges were knocked out by the dedication and commitment of Carmel. Her enthusiasm is recognised way beyond the stores she has managed and she has trained more than 60 new managers for The Disney Store.
Highly commended Claire Fisher, Topshop/Topman

Store manager of the year: Southeast & East Anglia

Sponsored by EDI
Winner Claire Lofthouse, Debenhams, Reading

Claire cut her teeth in store management at Debenhams Winchester store, where her results were outstanding, cutting labour turnover from 89.9% to 37% in 12 months, and with the store ranking first out of 32 in the region for operational KPIs.
The judges were impressed with Claire’s ability to think outside the box.
Highly commended Cyrus Dana, Sainsburys

Store manager of the year: Midlands, Wales & SouthWest

Sponsored by EDI
Winner Shiraz Khan, Boots, Chester

Shiraz Khan has not only transformed one of Boots ‘difficult’ stores but also implemented region-wide initiatives that have sealed his position as one of the real names to watch climbing up the ladder at Boots.
Highly commended Nathan Gee, Iceland; Gemma Ingram, New Look

Store manager of the year: Scotland & Ireland

Sponsored by EDI
Winner Christina Browne, Carphone Warehouse, Liffey Valley

The Liffey Valley store in Ireland has the highest turnover and is the most profitable in Ireland for Carphone Warehouse. Christina impressed the judges with her ideas and people management skills. She is constantly innovating to make sure her store, despite its smaller size, remains a leader in the company.

Area manager of the year

Sponsored by Mockshop
Winner Emma Dinnis, Topshop/Topman

Emma impressed the judges with a mature attitude that belies her age and an appetite for responsibility. She has been singled out for praise and promotion by executives at the highest level within her organisation, including going to Topshop’s New York store to ensure a continuity of the UK stores’ culture.
Highly commended Marion Ryan, Carphone Warehouse

Store support manager of the year

Supported by Retail Therapy
Winner Mike Green, Boots

Mike was nominated for the mammoth job of overseeing the transformation of the Alliance Pharmacy chain into Boots stores. He was praised for being honest, straightforward and a great leader, but at the same time praised his team, consistently pointing out that it was a team effort.

Marketing professional of the year

Supported byRetail Week Knowledge Bank
Winner Ninka Hulme, Iceland Foods

Working with an extremely limited budget, Ninka hugely impressed the judges and was described as a “phenomenal brand ambassador”. Working across channels as diverse as TV and PR, she manages projects from end to end.
Highly commended Claire Pacel, Boots

Visual merchandising team of the year

Sponsored by ABC Awards
Winner Lauren Corless & Danielle Cockcroft, John Lewis

The judges said this was an excellent team creating an innovative and technologically advanced window display for the skillVM 2010 exhibition. The design was well thought out and executed to a high standard with a very good attention to detail, and both winners showed great communication skills.

HR/Training professional of the year

Sponsored by City & Guilds
Winner Sarah White, Boots

Sarah proved herself expert at managing crucial change in Boots’ supply chain, involving changes to the conditions and terms of employment of more than 1,000 employees and demanding the ability to balance the interests of various groups.
Highly commended Sarah Lister, New Look

Head office support team of the year

Supported by Retail Week Recruitment
Winner Iceland Foods Retail Service Desk, Iceland Foods

The winning team impressed the judges by their entrepreneurial approach and willingness to go far beyond the call of duty.
Highly commended Over the Counter Medicines Trading & Supply Team from Boots

National Skills Academy for retail learner of the year

Sponsored by National Skills Academy for Retail
Winner Hannah Metcalfe, St Gemma’s Charity Shop

Described as tenacious and committed to learning, Hannah said she would “rather spend her money on learning than buying a pair of Jimmy Choo shoes”. She feels qualifications are an investment in herself and has encouraged her deputy manager and other members of her team to embark on qualifications themselves.

Skillsmart retail apprentice of the year

Sponsored by ABC Awards, City & Guilds and EDI
Winner Rachel Fellows, The Papermill Shop

The judges said Rachel was clearly passionate about retailing and good customer service, self-motivated and profit and target based. The judges are sure that this apprentice will have a big role in the retail industry one day.

Highly commended Kieron Ellis, Dorothy Perkins

National Skills Academy for retail trainer of the year

Sponsored by National Skills Academy for Retail
Winner George Elliott, The Source at Meadowhall

George was described as a dynamic trainer who the judges said is passionate about training and gets a lot of personal satisfaction out of training people. He knows his audience and can adapt to suit everyone, from young children to managers of retail businesses. He has never received negative feedback from his courses.

National Skills Academy for retail ambassador of the year

Sponsored by National Skills Academy for Retail
Winner Kirsty Ashman, Clinton Cards

Kirsty is highly motivated and committed to the Retail Ambassador Programme. She got her chief executive to buy into the programme and encouraged suppliers to get involved too. She inspires young people through real-life examples and the judges felt she really goes the extra mile.

Online team/individual of the year

Sponsored by Tata Interactive Systems
Winner Rav Dhaliwal, Figleaves.com

The judges praised this multichannel guru for the passion and commercial sense he has for his subject. “You’d be very happy having him representing your business,” said one. Joanna Cook and Jen Armstrong-Mckay collected the award on his behalf.
Highly commended MCR Team, Clarks

Supply chain professional of the year

Sponsored by Ligentia
Winner Mark Lynch, BrightHouse

Mark was praised for the contribution he had made to BrightHouse’s success, with his success in achieving high levels of availability contributing to an 11% sales increase and a 10% reduction in stock held. He has ambitions to be a chief executive and the judges said he is well positioned to move up the management ladder.

Buyer/merchandiser of the year

Sponsored by London College of Beauty Therapy
Winner Dene Hamill, BrightHouse

Dene has progressed to a head office position later than some of his peers, but he is really making up for it. After making a tremendous success of growing the furniture category within BrightHouse, Dene has now been given responsibility for the important TV category too.

Overall winner: Retail week rising star of the year

Winner Sarah White, Boots

Winner of the HR professional category, Sarah impressed the judges with the work she’d done on managing the HR aspects of Boots ambitious supply chain overhaul. She handled delicate situations sensitively but effectively, while making sure that both her own and her team’s development continued. The judges were confident that in due course they could see Sarah in an HR director’s role.