On the 29th April I held my Independent Shop Awards at the RSC's Other Place, to celebrate all of the excellent independent businesses that were nominated, and to congratulate those who had won.

I want to thank the almost 2000 constituents who nominated their favourite place to eat, drink, stay or shop in the constituency of Stratford on Avon, your support is truly appreciated by everyone.

Additional thanks go to the judges who helped me narrow down from those thousands of nominations and decide a winner, and to those who presented awards on the night, Cllr Chris Saint and particularly Steve Orchard, who runs Touch FM and has also graciously provided the prizes of free radio advertising to the winners.

We're already looking forward to next year’s event, but in the meantime don't forget to make good use of our brilliant independent businesses.

The winners were:

Best Village Shop: Ilmington Community Shop

Best Independent Hotel or B&B: Avonlea Guest House

Best Independent Cafe: Huffkins

Best Independent Pub: The Red Lion, Long Compton

Best Independent Restaurant: Aladdins

Best Independent Shop: Gemini