OUTSTANDING businesses in Bradford were celebrated at an awards ceremony in the heart of the city to mark their achievements.
The winners of the 2023 Retail, Leisure and Hospitality Awards were revealed during the event at The Broadway, which had undergone an awe-inspiring transformation from a shopping centre to a glittering backdrop for the celebration.
The awards were held by the Telegraph & Argus and LOCALiQ, along with partners the Bradford BID and The Broadway.
Each of the ten awards were presented by David Nowakowski, the co-host of daytime TV show Loving Living Local on the FOX21 channel in Colorado.
Mr Nowakowski, also known by his nickname Nova, is originally from Bradford and officially became a US Citizen in 2021.
The inaugural Retail, Leisure and Hospitality Awards were launched in 2019 with the aim of celebrating success, recognising achievement and highlighting innovative people, venues and destinations throughout Bradford district.
Winners of 2023's Retail, Leisure and Hospitality Awards
Find out about the winners by clicking each category below.
- Hospitality Venue of the Year - sponsored by Herald Plastics
- The Retailer of the Year - sponsored by Mitie
- The Beauty Salon of the Year - sponsored by Kirkgate Shopping Centre
- Customer Service award - sponsored by Bradford Bid
- Leisure Venue of the Year - sponsored by Bradford at Night
- The Team of the Year - sponsored by Bradford Council
- Rising Star - sponsored by Ellandi
- Established Business of the Year - sponsored by The Broadway
- New Business of the Year - sponsored by Bradford Live
- Hotel of the Year - sponsored by Sekhon
Commercial Sales Director at LOCALiQ in Yorkshire Steve Lowe said: "This was our fourth Retail, Leisure and Hospitality Awards we have run and I thought we could not beat last year, but the event was an amazing night of fun, live music, great food, award winners and the opportunity to sample the newly renovated Napoleons afterwards with a private after show party.
“The quality of entries was the most diverse I’ve seen and with the most number of entries too and it was a very difficult choice for the judges to pick the eventual winners.
“These awards showcase Bradford as a positive place to do business and nowhere else can they turn a shopping centre into an incredible awards space and back to a shopping mall all in one night. A big thank you to our partners, Bradford Council and our award sponsors, as we cannot run these awards without their invaluable support.”
Bradford BID has been involved in the awards since they were first launched.
Manager Jonny Noble said: “These awards are an amazing way of showcasing the fantastic businesses in our great city centre and also further afield across the district.
“They allow business owners to have a night of celebration in a unique venue and spend time with like-minded people they may never have met otherwise. The feelgood factor of attending (or even winning an award) continues for a long time – which is very valuable in the current climate.
“The pride on the faces of those award winners as they collect their trophies is something to behold!”
The Broadway’s general manager Ian Ward said: “The retail, leisure and hospitality awards follow on from our festive launch on the Saturday and are a great way to start the festive season in the Broadway, the awards are unique in that we transform the shopping centre into an awards space in only a few hours, we are proud to host the awards and to sponsor a category too, it’s been a busy year for the Broadway and have exciting plans for 2024 with the Primark development.
“We have already set the date for next year and the planning starts now.”
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