Sheffield children’s shop Small Stuff UK has beeen recognised with a national award from the Independent Retailers’ Confederation for its innovative response to the Covid lockdown.
Small Stuff UK, which specialises in ethical and eco-conscious lifestyle products and clothing for small children, has been given the award in recognition of the way it navigated the first Covid-19 lockdown.
The online store thrived during lockdown, with owner Hellen Stirling-Baker using her customer knowledge to deliver the very best service, adding Zoom videos for gift purchasing and safe local hand delivery for the local community. The store sent out newsletters and found interesting ways to keep young ones entertained with free colouring packs or early years home schooling advice as well as sharing ideas they were doing at home with their own children.
In their comments about Small Stuff, the IRC judges said that the shop’s use of Zoom for gift purchasing was: ‘a brilliant idea during these difficult times and definitely something other businesses can implement for continuing sales and reaching out to new customers.’
The judges also recognised the way the shop had used its voice across social platforms to promote local shopping in the area, commenting: ‘This is always a great way to encourage more businesses to spread the word about who they are and where they are’.
“[Winning this award is] absolutely fantastic,” said Hellen. “It’s a wonderful competition that highlights so many incredible businesses… The award couldn’t have come at a better time, given everything we have had to deal with with Covid. It just drives me more and more to continue what we are doing and push forward with this independent business that I have grown.”
The Independent Retailers Confederation (IRC) is a collective of trade associations, which between them represent approximately 100,000 independent retailers throughout the UK.
