Westfield bagged the 2015 title at the November awards ceremony, proving that UK retail is on the up.
Held at the Sheraton Skyline Hotel and welcoming more than 300 attendees, the West London Business Awards celebrated outstanding achievements across the categories of economic growth, sustainable and responsible business, and sector leadership.
The judges were unanimous in their decision to crown Westfield Shopping Centre as Business of the Year, naming the centre as a ‘powerful catalyst for good in West London’.
The award not only pays testament to West London as a thriving business community, but also recognises that UK retail is going from strength to strength.
The Westfield retail sales growth statistics from the third quarter of 2015 only serve to reinforce this, recording general retail flagship and regional growth of 9.8% and 3.7% respectively over a 12 month period.
It isn’t just bricks and mortar retail that is thriving either, with Black Friday and Cyber Monday not only exceeding expectations, but also marking a 35% increase compared to 2014.
UK shoppers this year spent an impressive £1.1bn on Black Friday and £968m on Cyber Monday alone, not to mention the weekend in between.
In-store retail and ecommerce are both key contributing factors to economic growth, and often go hand-in-hand in today’s business world.
Many businesses use the internet not simply as an alternative to in-store retail, but rather as a vital component of their marketing strategy to enhance their brand as a whole.
The convergence of bricks and mortar and online commerce is also finding its way into the smaller business arena, with many doing their best to ensure a competitive presence in the online world.
With the most popular domain names often already taken by larger corporations, finding a memorable domain name is not without its challenges for smaller businesses.
However, using a domain name checker such as this is just one of the ways in which small businesses can simplify the process of ensuring competitive online branding and marketing.
As large and small businesses alike increasingly develop innovative and forward-thinking strategies to boost not only their brand but also the UK economy as a whole, it is great to see such achievements being celebrated and recognised.
The complete list of West London Business Awards 2015 winners can be found on the official website.
Picture courtesy of Borja-García-de-Sola-Fernández, with thanks
