Great Little Shop Awards 2010
Expert judges including Mariella Frostrup, Marcus Wareing, Mark Hix and Celia Britwell picked winners in categories ranging from fashion boutiques and art shops to bookshops, florists, delis and butchers, and all gathered at Axis at One Aldwych on Monday night to announce the winners.
As The London Magazine is funded by a collective of estate agents and distributed across “desirable” residential areas primarily to the West of London, there’s a natural bias to shops in these enclaves and a general leaning towards the high-end. In spite of this, some worthy winners emerged, including underrated Soho deli I Camisa, which beat off competition from the ubiquitous Neal’s Yard Dairy and La Fromagerie. Northcote Road butcher Dove & Son also beat off the big guns, pipping Allens of Mayfair to the post to be crowned best butcher. It's notable for being the only South of the River winner.
Berry Bros & Rudd of St. James’ was an unsurprising winner in the wine merchants category, whilst best bookshop went to Lutyens & Rubinstein of Notting Hill and best interiors to Peta Smyth Antique Textiles in Pimlico. Columbia Road perfumery Angela Flanders flew the flag for the East, winning in the beauty retailers category.
We applaud The London Magazine on the concept and look forward to the awards' return next year, but we'd like to see a few more ethnic shops, a few less of the obvious choices and definitely more shops that go beyond the Western half of Zone 1. See the awards website for more details and all those shortlisted, it will hopefully soon be updated with the full list of winners.
Readers, let us know in the comments what are your favourite independent retailers in London?
