Important Information

Before you make your first IWC Merchant Award UK entry please select and complete the generic questions. This is obligatory unless you are only entering the Consumer Campaign or the Restaurant Initiative. This only needs to be answered once. You can edit these questions at any point before you pay for and submit your entry.

Questions

Please read these questions carefully before starting the online entry process. All information submitted is confidential and judges are required to sign NDAs.

These awards are open to UK based agencies whose main activity is importing wines into a country for distribution themselves, or through other companies. An agency is therefore responsible for the success of the sales of those products in the country whether they distribute them or not.

• Small Agent of the Year - agencies with a turnover of less than £5 million
• Medium Agent of the Year - agencies with a turnover of between £5 million and £25 million
• Large Agent of the Year – agencies with a turnover of more than £25 million 

These awards are open to UK based agencies whose main activity is importing wines into a country for distribution themselves, or through other companies. An agency is therefore responsible for the success of the sales of those products in the country whether they distribute them or not.

• Small Agent of the Year - agencies with a turnover of less than £5 million
• Medium Agent of the Year - agencies with a turnover of between £5 million and £25 million
• Large Agent of the Year – agencies with a turnover of more than £25 million 

These awards are open to UK based agencies whose main activity is importing wines into a country for distribution themselves, or through other companies. An agency is therefore responsible for the success of the sales of those products in the country whether they distribute them or not.

• Small Agent of the Year - agencies with a turnover of less than £5 million
• Medium Agent of the Year - agencies with a turnover of between £5 million and £25 million
• Large Agent of the Year – agencies with a turnover of more than £25 million 

To enter this award your campaign must meet the following criteria:

• This award is for a single campaign or event in 1 year
• The campaign or event must have taken place in the UK
  

This award is open to all national convenience stores chains that own multiple retail outlets.

For the purpose of this category, convenience stores are qualified as small ‘local’ stores that are part of a national or regional chain of stores, whose main activity is convenience grocery. There must be a minimum of 30 stores nationally (these can also include petrol stations, motorway services and multiple differently sized sites). Each store must have at least 80% of their wine range/allocation managed centrally (head office). The wine range(s) must have a minimum of 30 SKU’s and no more than 150 SKU’s. Each separate grade of store must have a different planogram for each.

All entrants must provide a national wine range list for April 2021 – ie sku’s available in stores. Each separate grade of store must have a different planogram for each – when uploading their supporting documents. (i.e. Stores that carry 30 SKUs, 75 SKUs and 100 SKUs must have a different planogram provided with the entry)

2020 has been a year like no other. How have you changed your business in order to deal with the changing landscape?

The Independent Merchant of the Year award is open to any independent retail business whose function is to sell wine and includes retail specialists and online retailers.

There are two sub-categories for these awards:

• Small Independent Merchant of the Year - privately owned businesses with 1-3 outlets in the UK and no more than 20 members of staff
• Large Independent Merchant of the Year - privately owned businesses with 4-10 outlets in the UK or more than 20 members of staff
  

The Innovator of the Year is to recognise excellence in innovation in the UK wine industry

This award is judged on both the content and visual appeal of your wine list. If you need to send hard copies of your wine list to support your entry, they need to arrive at the address below by the 23rd April so that we can send them out to the judges. IWC Merchant Awards, FAO Kate Labate William Reed Business Media Ltd. Broadfield Park, Crawley RH11 9RT

To enter this award you must be UK based and sell wine to the UK market.

The National Merchant of the Year award is open to any retail business with more than 10 outlets whose function is to sell wine.

To enter this award you must be UK based and sell wine to the UK on-trade.

To enter this award you must be UK based and sell wine on line.

To enter these awards you must have at least one retail shop in the UK. You can enter multiple award categories if you wish to nominate your business as a specialist in more than one region.

• Eastern England: Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex
• Central England: Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Leicestershire, West Midlands, Rutland, Worcestershire, Warwickshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire
• London: Greater London
• Northern England: Northumberland, Cumbria, Tyne & Wear, Durham, Yorkshire, Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Cheshire
• Northern Ireland: Northern Ireland
• Scotland: Scotland
• South West England: Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, Bristol
• South & South East England: Hampshire, Berkshire, Surrey, West Sussex, East Sussex, Kent, Isle of Wight, Channel Islands
• Wales: Wales
  
  

To enter this award your restaurant must be based in the UK.

Criteria

The judges will be looking at the following criteria:

• New operating initiatives employed in 2020, evidence of supporting your local community 

Presentation

2021 Supermarket of the year category will not include a face to face presentation due to Covid 19. Supermarkets are instead asked to complete the additional questions regarding Community Responsibility giving background to how they have supported the nation over the last 12 months, from February 2020 to February 2021.

To enter this award you must be UK based and offer a membership club, through which you promote and sell wine.

The Wine Educator of the Year is to recognise excellence in education in the UK wine industry