Last night The Grocer crowned its annual champions, dishing out 25 awards to the industry’s finest at a black-tie bash in London’s Guildhall.

There’ll be a full rundown of the big night in this weekend’s edition of the magazine. Waitrose capped another hectic 12 months by retaining its Grocer of the Year trophy, collected by convenience chief Stephen Hider.

“It’s been a big year for Waitrose,” said MD Mark Price. “Through investment in value, innovative top-tier ranges, new space and new formats, we’ve attracted hundreds of thousands of new weekly customers in to our shops.

“The award is a tribute to the hard work and dedication of our 45,000 partners, who give their all, day in and day out, to bring our customers great food backed up by unbeatable service.”

Another big winner was Asda, named Britain’s Favourite Supermarket in the award voted for by consumers. The supermarket also hung on to its Grocer 33 award as the cheapest of the major multiples.

“I have to pay tribute to my 180,000 colleagues for the hard work they put in each and every day to ensure we can be the best value retailer,” said chief executive Andy Clarke.

“To be named by shoppers as Britain’s favourite store is a wonderful endorsement of all their hard work over the past 12 months to improve our quality, service and – yes – get even sharper on price.”

For some of Asda’s staff, there was even better news today, with the supermarket set to pay out a record £49m via its Sharesave scheme.

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