After an intense and frequently emotional judging period, the shortlist for the SLR Above & Beyond Awards 2026 has been released.
If there is one word that best sums up the judging for this year’s SLR Above & Beyond Awards, it’s definitely ‘emotional’. Now in their third year, the Awards were created to recognise the unsung heroes of local retailing in Scotland – the shopfloor superstars who perform frankly incredible acts of heroism, apparently on a pretty regular basis.
There’s no question that this year’s judges and sponsors were simply blown away and utterly inspired by the power and passion of the entries we received. We are not ashamed to admit that there were one or two tears shed along the way.
And the deeper we dig every year as the Awards continue to establish themselves, the more gold we find. This local retailing sector of ours is not short of wonderful human beings, that’s for sure. And that’s something we should all be proud of and something we should all celebrate.
Local retailing isn’t like any other sector. It really isn’t. We don’t just serve our communities. We are our communities.
Needless to say, narrowing the entries down to a shortlist this year was harder than it has ever been. From lifeline delivery drivers to kind-hearted sales assistants, and tech-savvy supervisors to death-defying managers, this year’s outstanding batch of shortlisted nominees is the ultimate showcase of what makes this industry so unique: our people.
Every single person and team on the shortlist demonstrates exactly what it means to go above and beyond – and they do it every single day.
The exceptional achievements of each and every one of our shortlisted heroes will be celebrated at a very special lunch in Glasgow’s Corinthian Club on Wednesday 18 March – where our category winners will also be revealed.
It will be a special day for a very special collection of local retailing superheroes.
Independent Store Colleague
- Kerri Grier | Supervisor, Bourtreehill Supermarket
- Gertu Kirtsing | Deli/kitchen supervisor, David’s Kitchen
- Shivam Madaan | Store manager, Day Today Haddington
- Sean Maney | Store manager, Greens of Shettleston
Company-Owned Store Colleague
- Diane Garry | Supervisor, SPAR Coatbridge
- Liam Hailes | Store manager, SPAR Balintore
- Angela Kelly | Customer sales assistant, SPAR Garthamlock
- Stacey McMahon | Store manager, SPAR Peterculter
Team of the Year
- SPAR Denny
- SPAR Eastriggs
- SPAR Garthamlock
- SPAR Kincaidston
Up & Coming Star
- Jodi Ewing | Supervisor, SPAR Saltcoats
- Harshita Jand | Supervisor, Girish’s Premier Barmulloch
- Karis Waldron | Supervisor, SPAR Greenock
Long Service Award
- Gerry Haughey | Store manager, SPAR Garthamlock
- Margo Macauley | Store manager, Costcutter Muirhouse
- Stacey McMahon | Store manager, SPAR Peterculter
Astonishing Act
- Sean Maney | Store manager, Greens of Shettleston
- Edwin Pirie | Driver/storeman, Premier Whitehills
