The UK's Favourite Corner Shop Unveiled

Advertorial

The first ever nationwide search for the UK's favourite corner shop reveals that C&M News in Cardiff is the winner of the '2007 PayPoint Corner Shop of the Year Award'.

Over the last four weeks nominations have been coming in thick and fast and competition was stiff; with ten regional finalists battling it out
to win the accolade of the UK's best corner shop.

The awards were designed to celebrate the important role these shops play in their local communities and were judged on a number of criteria including products and services, opening hours and customer service; with the overall shop demonstrating going beyond the call of duty when it came to serving their customers and local community.

Chris and Maria Hole, owners of C&M News were presented with their award by Sarah Jayne Dunn, the face of the campaign who played well known soap character Mandy Hutchinson from Channel 4's Hollyoaks.

Maria Hole, owner of the C&M News, Cardiff commented: "We're really proud to be awarded the title of best in the UK.  It means so much because we know how stiff the competition was.  It makes all the early mornings and long hours worthwhile and we'd like to thank our staff and loyal customers for their support.  We cannot wait to show off the award to all our customers."

Dominic Taylor, Chief Executive of PayPoint, commented: "Chris and Maria are great ambassadors for corner shops and they are truly worthy of this accolade.

Corner shops are a national institution and the best shops pride themselves on the variety and quality of products and services, whilst offering the highest standards of customer service."

The ten regional finalists:

• East Anglia - Somerfield Stores, Norwich
  Midlands - Balfour Stores, Burton-on-Trent
  North East - Mill Hill Newsagents, Sunderland
  North West - Goblets, Moston, Manchester
  Scotland - The Corner Shop, Motherwell
  South East & London - Anrish Newsagents & Off Licence, Reading
  South West - Bishop Sutton PO Stores, Bristol
  Yorkshire - Holderness News, Hull
  Wales - C&M News, Cardiff
  Northern Ireland - Day Today Stores, Londonderry