Friday evening saw the climax of the 2016 Love Your Local awards, with Wandsworth residents’ favourite independent shops announced by Janes Ellison, MP for Battersea, and Dan Watkins, Conservative Parliamentary Spokesman for Tooting.
Now in its third year, Love Your Local was established by Dan Watkins as a way of celebrating the excellence of our local shops, restaurants, pubs and bars. Local residents vote for their best-loved independent retailers with winners recognised in each category.
The winner in Tooting and Furzedown was long-established Libo & Gio Hairdressers. In Balham and Wandsworth Common it was the popular Brickwood café that collected first prize. Meanwhile long-time favourite Sea Horse Fish Bar topped the Earlsfield poll for the second year running. The full list of winners is below.
Launching the awards ceremony, Dan said:
‘Well done to our brilliant winners and thank you to all of our independent shops, who bring diversity and great customer service to our High Streets. In recent years we’ve seen the renaissance of many of our local shopping parades and markets and it’s only been possible because of the hard work of our local shop owners. We need to do all we can to support them, and Love Your Local is one way we can do that.’
Presenting the Balham awards, Jane Ellison said:
‘Our residents have real affection for their favourite local businesses and these awards are an opportunity for some well-deserved recognition of the places people most enjoy shopping, eating and drinking. Dan has done a great job in championing Love Your Local’.
Balham and Wandsworth Common
- Brickwood – Overall Winner and Best Café
- Deelite Bakery – Overall Runner-up and Best Bakery
- Quirky Dovetail – Best Furniture Shop
- Whippet – Best Gift Shop
- The French Café – Best Restaurant
- Chadwicks – Best Butchers
- Bellevue Chemist – Wandsworth Common Winner and Best Chemist
Tooting and Furzedown
- Libo & Gio – Overall Winner and Best Hairdresser
- Mud – Overall Runner-up and Best Coffee Shop
- Vijaya Krishna – Best Curry House
- The Antelope – Best Pub
- Unwined – Best Bar
- The Little Taperia – Best Restaurant
- The Village – Furzedown Winner
Earlsfield
- Sea Horse Fish & Chips – Overall Winner and Best Takeaway
- Bean & Hop – Overall Runner-up and Best Coffee Shop
- Nazmins – Best Restaurant
- Belle Amie – Best Café
- Four Mirrors Hair – Best Hairdresser
More information on the competition is available at website www.loveyourocalshops.com