House of Travel New Plymouth claims Top Shop spot at awards evening

House of Travel New Plymouth was named Taranaki's Top Shop for 2019 at the TSB Top Shop awards evening on Saturday night.

It wasn't the only win for the shop on the night, the team also won the North Taranaki Regional Award and the Lifestyle and Leisure category.

The South Taranaki Regional Award was won by Pak'n Save Hāwera, while the Central Regional Award went to Stratford ITM.

Stratford ITM also received a Highly Commended award in the Large Format category and Pak'n Save Hāwera also received a Highly Commended in the Accessibility Award category.

The awards which recognise Customer Service Excellence, are organised by the Taranaki Chamber of Commerce.

The evening was MC'd by Sam Bennett and Tracey Blake.

Over 13,000 nominations from the public were received for this year's awards.
The top ten businesses in each category were then mystery shopped by a panel of judges using a set criteria for marking, with the top point scorers then being re-judged in order to determine the Regional and Supreme winners.

With marks in all categories being exceptionally close this year, Highly Commendeds were also awarded in each of the eight categories.

WINNERS:
Fashion, Footwear and Accessories:
Highly Commended - Footloose
Winner:Ziera
Lifestyle and Leisure:
Highly Commended - Mitre 10 Mega
Winner - House of Travel New Plymouth
Speciality Store:
Highly Commended - New Plymouth Vet Group
Winner - Bianca Lorenne
Health and Beauty:
Highly Commended - CU Hair and Caci New Plymouth
Winner - Blackbird Society
Automotive:
Highly Commended - Central Taranaki Automotive
Winner - Cooks Honda New Plymouth
Large Format:
Highly Commended - Stratford ITM
Winner - Clegg Furnishers
Food and Beverage:
Highly Commended - Lemonwood Eatery
Winner - Koi Lounge
Accessibility Award:
Highly Commended - Pak'n Save Hāwera
Winner - Egmont Seafoods