Linda, Dennis and Sophie Williams of Broadway Premier in Oxgangs, Edinburgh, have been awarded with the 2023 Raj Aggarwal Trophy.

The award was created in honour of Aggarwal, a leading Spar retailer who died in 2020 from coronavirus. It is presented to those that have demonstrated an ‘exceptional commitment to community retailing’ over the last year.

This year marks the first time since the award’s inauguration in 2021 that all three finalists selected are women.

Other finalists included Trudy Davies, of Woosnam & Davies News, and Keshwara & Sons, of Spar Priory Road.

The unveiling of the award took place at ACS’ Heart of the Community conference, where the finalists hosted a panel session discussing the range and importance of their community activity over the last year.

The award was presented to the Williams family, who have been serving their community for more than 40 years, by Kevin Hollinrake, MP for Thirsk and Malton and minister for enterprise, markets and small business.

The entries were judged by Sunita Aggarwal, Raj’s wife and owner of Spar Wigston, Jonathan James, managing director of James Convenience Retail, and Avtar Sidhu, owner of Budgens Kenilworth.

ACS chief executive James Lowman said: “Congratulations to the Williams Family who are deserved winners of this award, which highlights the very best of community retailing. The competition was extremely close – all three of the finalists are doing incredible work locally and it was great to hear so many examples of community activity that make a real difference.”

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