AN independent gift shop in Bridge of Weir has been named one of the best of its kind in the UK at a national awards.

Alison Stenhouse said that she opened The Lions Paw in June 2015 after making a promise to her mother before she died.

Alison Stenhouse said the award would help make the shop stand out to suppliers and customers.

The shop won Best Newcomer at The Greats Retail Awards for the ‘rest of the UK’ category. The UK is divided into London and the South, and the Rest of the UK.

“The award is helpful in giving an independent authoritative mark of quality on the business,” said Ms Stenhouse. “Customers as well as suppliers appreciate that recognition and are more likely to come to the shop and want to deal with us.”

For me personally, the award is important because I promised my Mother before she died that I would have a go at running a shop, and somebody else recognising the quality of the shop makes me happy that I have fulfilled my promise.”

Ms Stenhouse said sourcing was key to the business’ success. “If you go in to many gift shops they have very similar product ranges which are sourced from a relatively small number of UK suppliers,” she said. “This not only makes it unexciting for customers but increases the vulnerability to online competition because the same suppliers also generally have online operations in the UK.”

Ms Stenhouse said to counter this, she source stock from small businesses which don’t produce large volumes and therefore cannot be found everywhere. She also sources from outside the UK.

“We go to trade fairs in Europe, and next year America, and we buy from companies who don’t come to the UK to sell,” she said.

“By doing this we have products which are different - worth travelling to have a look at, a place where you would like to buy something special for somebody - or for yourself, which you won’t find elsewhere.”