One of the many lessons the pandemic taught us was the importance of local communities: our neighbours, the local services and the small businesses that helped keep us connected - and supplied with beautiful, useful things. Today, with high inflation and a cost of living crisis, many of these businesses are under more pressure than ever to keep themselves afloat.
That’s why House & Garden is creating a new, annual celebration of these brilliant and vital parts of our local communities. Drawing on the expertise of our editors as well as our readers, the Independent Shop Awards will highlight 50 of the best small independent interiors shops around the UK. The list will be organised by region, so that the creativity of every part of the country will be recognised, and no matter where our readers live, there will be a recommendation to seek out.
Many of us will already have a favourite shop in our neighbourhoods, a place that can be relied upon to present a beautiful and unusual collection of things, and offer an inspiring experience for visitors. “Wherever I go," says our editor Hatta Byng, "I’m on the lookout for the one-off shop that will sell something I haven’t seen before or specialise in something a little bit off-beat, or simply be a beautiful curation of irresistible things and the reflection of an individual eye. That’s what the Independent Shop Awards are all about.”
Together with the larger list of 50, House & Garden will be selecting seven independent shops for special awards, including Shop of the Year, our ‘Eco Hero’, the shop with the most impressive lifetime contribution, and a Readers Choice award. The list and the awards will appear on the House & Garden website in November. To have your say for the Readers' Choice Award, click on the link below to nominate your favourite shop.
