The National Retail Association honoured retail excellence and resilience across a diverse line-up of categories at the National Retail Awards held last night at the Howard Smith Wharves in Brisbane.
Retailers across the country gathered at the sold-out event and were joined by Dominique Lamb, former CEO and Small Business Commissioner, Councillor Ryan Murphy, and Barton Green CEO for the Committee for Brisbane.
Deputy CEO Lindsay Carroll said the Awards gave the National Retail Association the opportunity to acknowledge game-changing retailers and their unwavering commitment towards innovation and success.
“Our members, and the hardworking talent that exists across the sector, have excelled in the face of the industry’s most challenging years. The Awards were an opportunity to celebrate their achievements,” Ms Carroll said.
“Since our focus is ensuring customer satisfaction, it is equally important to highlight the significance of our employees and the retail industry’s commitment to creating a warm and inclusive work environment that supports and celebrates a diverse workforce, while also actively following progressive workplace regulations. For example, Dissh, our award-winning ‘People and Culture Retailer of the Year’ winners who demonstrated this commitment by implementing in-house training initiatives, employee professional development, talent management, and company culture.”
“We can’t talk about ground-breaking innovation without mentioning the ‘Sustainable Retailer of the Year’, Circonomy, which has created a business designed to help Australians struggling through the cost-of-living crisis.
“Retail is often unrecognised as a vital part of our economy, yet it influences our quality of life every day. It’s important we acknowledge the significance of these retailers to Australians,” she said.
Christine Holgate, CEO of Sustainability Award Sponsor Team Global Express (TGE), headlined as keynote speaker and kicked-off the event by discussing key issues that were front of mind for major Australian retailers.
“Freight and logistics have increasingly become an important element of business success for so many retailers, and TGE was delighted to support the National Retail Award’s inaugural sustainability award,” Ms Holgate said.
“As an industry, e-commerce and logistics must work together to reduce the sector’s large emissions profile. In 2022, Australia’s transport sector made up 19 per cent of Australia’s emissions[1], and this is a challenge we must tackle together across the supply chain.
“The weather events of recent years have demonstrated how important both choice and capacity are on major routes to ensure important freight, including food, can still be delivered at times of great need,” said Ms Holgate.
Team Global Express is a true intermodal provider, providing logistics solutions across rail, road, air and sea. This provides TGE’s network with resilience in the face of supply chain challenges and increased instances of natural disasters. This enables TGE to work with customers to pivot to different modes of transport and deliver goods throughout Australia and New Zealand.
The Awards program has been running for more than 50 years and the ‘Sustainable Retailer of the Year’ award is one of 17 categories presented last night, including seven new categories.
The National Retail Association represents more than 60,000 stores across Australia. It has been serving businesses in the retail and fast-food sectors for close to 100 years.
For more information, contact the NRA media unit on 0467 792 013.
FULL LIST OF 2023 NATIONAL RETAIL AWARD WINNERS
- HR Professional of the Year – Ashley Thomas from Boardriders
- Store Manager of the Year – Timothy Gamble from Supercheap Auto
- Retail Leader of the Year – Jeff Antcliff – Vinnies Victoria
- Young Retailer of the Year – Chelsea Mostert from Supercheap Auto
- Emerging Retailer of the Year – Carma
- Innovation Retailer of the Year – Underwear for Humanity
- Marketing or Sales Campaign of the Year – Miss Amara
- People & Culture Retailer of the Year – DISSH
- Store Fit-out/Improvement of the Year – Optus
- Sustainable Retailer of the Year – Circonomy
- Franchisee of The Year – Sleepy’s Hobart
- Small Retailer of the Year – Online – Underwear for Humanity
- Small Retailer of the Year – Shopfront – My Little Bookshop
- Medium Retailer of the Year – Online – Miss Amara
- Medium Retailer of the Year – Shopfront – Price Attack
- Large Retailer of the Year – Online – Appliances Online
- Large Retailer of the Year – Shopfront – Kmart Australia Limited