Best small shop

Sir, I am calling on Argyll and Bute’s small shopkeepers to enter the Best Small Shops competition, celebrating the creativity of small shops and the central role they play in their local community. Argyll and Bute is a hub of small local retailers, many of which are a lifeline.

The Best Small Shops competition is open to any small shop operating in the UK. The competition is free to enter and all shops who enter will also be promoted to consumers through an online Indie Retail Directory.

Shopkeepers can nominate their businesses until Sunday September 9 via bestsmallshops. co.uk. A shortlist of 25 of the most impressive applications will be shortlisted by a panel made up of established representatives from the independent retail industry.

The judges will be looking for evidence of a small shops’ entrepreneurial spirit, ways that they have been innovative in their business and what they have done to have a lasting positive impact on their community.

The shortlisted small shops will be invited to a parliamentary reception on November 13 to meet their Member of Parliament and find out who will be crowned Best Small Shop 2018.

Argyll and Bute has an amazing array of small shops which help support our rural economy and I would love to see them recognised. Brendan O’Hara, MP for Argyll and Bute.