The Mayor of Causeway Coast and Glens has welcomed the winners of Retail NI’s High Street Hero Awards from Ballymoney and Coleraine to a special reception in Ballymoney Town Hall.

The awards, voted for my members of the public saw a record number of 15,000 votes for retailers across Northern Ireland in 12 categories for 2024, and saw Ballymoney take home the prize for High Street of the Year for the second year in a row.

Ballymoney proved its status as a great place to shop with 5 retailers from the town highlighted including of course the much-loved Winsome Lady who was awarded both Best Fashion Retailer and best Overall Independent Retailer.

Customers helped food retailers Apperley Fine Foods and Sweetness and Light Cakery take home the Bronze for Best Butcher and Gold for best Deli/Bakery, while homeware retailer W&J Walker took the Gold for Best Homeware Retailer. The Mayor also congratulated representatives from Coleraine based Real Health who picked up a Gold Award for Best Healthcare Retailer at the awards held last month.

Welcoming attendees to the reception in Ballymoney Town Hall, Councillor Ciarán McQuillan said: “I am delighted to welcome you all to this reception highlighting your recent success at the High Street Hero Awards.

“Obviously massive congratulations to Ballymoney for taking the High Street of the Year accolade for the second time and congratulations to the teams from Ballymoney based Winsome Lady, Apperley Fine Foods, Sweetness and Light Cakery, W&J Walker and also of course Real Health in Coleraine.

“As Mayor of Causeway Coast and Glens I may be biased, but I think our Borough has a wealth of fantastic independent shops and businesses and I am really pleased that Ballymoney and Coleraine took home awards on the night. The work you all do alongside your counterparts in towns and villages throughout the Borough really is appreciated, thank you for making our high streets fantastic places to visit!”

The High Street Hero NI Awards are a joint initiative powered by Retail NI and supported National Lottery operator Allwyn, SSE Airtricity, Roam Local NI and media partner Belfast Live, for more information on Retail NI’s High Street Hero Awards visit: https://bit.ly/3TDCKcM