We are super excited to announce that we have been nominated for The Independent Awards in the High Street Shop category, hosted by Holly &Co and sponsored by Dell, Natwest and Royal Mail!
The Independent Awards is a brilliant competition that highlights high street heroes and entrepreneurs who are paving the way for small businesses in the UK. Holly & Co set up the awards to “recognise the bravery, innovation and sheer hard work of our nation’s incredible small business founders.”
It really is such an honour to be nominated for the High Street Shop award. It really is such an honour to be nominated for the High Street Shop award. This award celebrates the independent businesses that are transforming our high streets. Those keeping our local communities ‘home towns’ not ‘clone towns’ and showcasing true innovation, uniqueness and bringing ‘less ordinary’ to our grey retail experiences through their creativity and passion. Something we definitely tick the box of doing hey?!
We don’t often get to time to stop and take stock of everything we have been able to achieve so far, but being in the running for the Awards has definitely forced us to! From our Made Local pop-ups, launching two of our very own stand-alone stores, to running four Curated Makers Markets across the UK. Here at Curated Makers, we have continued to push out of our comfort zones and dive into brand new concepts, all in the name of supporting small businesses. Our mission of bridging the gap between big and small businesses, on the high street, is becoming a reality.
We've shared some throwback pictures below, showing 'some' of the highlights of our journey and where we started...on a market stall in Leeds Town Hall in 2017 when Megan had just quit her job!
An independent study conducted by Holly & Co found that the top three things that would encourage people to shop small are: if it were easy to do so, if they knew the difference it would make and if they had reassurance about quality. Our Made Local pop-ups and Markets bring the convenience of shopping small by placing ourselves within high footfall retail spaces. They also give customers the opportunity to meet the makers and therefore provide them with the opportunity to build deeper connections to the people and products in front of them.
Other awards include ‘Business For Good’, Modern Crafter, Small Business of the Year, High Street Shop, Female Founder and Young Entrepreneur award. Alongside two additional awards of the People’s Choice Award and Holly’s Fairy Godmother Award, with a grand pot prize of £100,000 to be shared between them all! How incredible!
The Independent Awards is all in support of the #CampaignShopIndependent which aims to celebrate the human power and creativity of small businesses. Together we can work together to support our creative communities, protect originality and quality, and highlight how essential local, small businesses are for the UK.
So please show us love by voting for us, at www.bit.ly/voteforcuratedmakers. Voting closes 23rd November at 5pm!
But also definitely make sure you check out the other amazing nominees at https://holly.co/campaign-christmas-2021/independent-awards/