Prizes with a total value of £70,000 were presented at the Bestway Retailer Development Awards last month.
A total of 17 awards were presented with prizes totalling £35,000 in cash and £35,000 of free stock and other benefits.
The top award of National Retailer of the Year went to Katharine Mulholland of Whingate Stores in Arnley, Leeds.
The independent retailers are judged on a measured series of store improvements set against the range of goods stocked, the POS material used, sales increases, pricing policy, store layout and space in the store, equipment used and the success of new lines, and whether the store has a professional look to it and is well managed.
Zameer Choudrey, group chief executive of Bestway, said: "In this, our sixth year of staging these awards, I am very pleased to say that standards continue to improve across most of the independent sector."
Other awards included the winner of the Northern Bestway region, the Southern Bestway region and the Best One symbol group awards.
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