Sisters' success at Convenience Store Awards for work on SPAR Abbots Cross in Newtownabbey
Two sisters are celebrating after winning a prestigious award for their work on a Newtownabbey store – less than a year after its reopening.
Becky and Lucy McCammond invested £620,000 into SPAR Abbots Cross, reopening the store with an additional four members of the team, in May 2024.
They have now been recognised for their exceptional fit out at the UK-wide Convenience Store Awards which took place in Manchester recently.
The store won the Refit of the Year Award, beating competition from stores in Essex, Glasgow and Lincolnshire.
Judges said the team at SPAR Abbots Cross was recognised “for their excellent community work while creating a new-look store to better serve their shoppers”, adding: “One of our panel even said they wished it was their local store, highlighting the new services such as butchery and bakery ranges that set the refitted site apart from others.”
Commenting on the win, Lucy said: “We are so proud of the work we did on the shop to provide an even better shopping experience and accessible services for the local community. We purchased the store earlier in 2024, and set to work to expand our offering so that we could double the range of fresh and locally sourced products and produce available for our shoppers. We introduced SPAR Bakery items but also brought in new bakery suppliers from across Northern Ireland.”
The family duo also upgraded the food to go offering with the new Delish Grab and Go hot food counter and brought in a fresh butchery range from Mayfield Village Butchers. Becky said: “We also introduced more essential services, including Collect Plus, The National Lottery and Evri at the Post Office, which has extended its opening hours, now operating in-store from 8am – 8pm. This has given our neighbourhood even more access to everyday services the Post Office offers, right on their doorstep.”
The refit allowed the team to bring on four new members of staff, not only providing additional job opportunities for the area, but also vital resource when it comes to implementing community initiatives.
Since opening they have hosted a Blooming Great Tea Party as part of SPAR’s partnership with Marie Curie; have donated to local charity Angel Wishes and supported their local food bank with product donations, and have engaged with Abbots Cross Primary School, supporting their sports day.
“We are particularly proud of the sustainability elements we incorporated into our refurb, installing energy efficient refrigeration and lighting, while adding the latest retail technology to bring service efficiencies for shoppers and staff,” Lucy added.
"We intend for this store to be a shop for the future and to be here for our neighbourhood for a long time.”
Paddy Doody, Sales and Marketing Director at Henderson Group commented: “This is a fantastic win for Lucy and Becky, less than a year after opening their new look store. They have provided an accessible store which provides everything their neighbours could need; fresh products for tonight’s tea or something to grab and go throughout the day.
"Picking up such a prestigious award against tough competition from stores across the UK is admirable and we all send our congratulations to the team.”