TOP Merry Hill shops were celebrated at the intu shopping centre's first Retailer Awards.

The gala evening was held at The Copthorne Hotel, Brierley Hill, on September 24.

There were 14 award categories, covering all retail sectors within the shopping centre, including health and beauty, jewellery, footwear, food, ladieswear, menswear, toy and leisure and also store development, speciality, world class service, variety, security and corporate responsibility.

Trophy winners included Debenhams, which was named Store of the Year, Yankee Candle that was branded the Speciality Retailer of the Year and Primark, which bagged the Department Store of the Year award.

Robert Pickersgill, the centre's marketing manager, said: “We wanted to recognise our retailers for the fantastic work they do. The success of intu Merry Hill is down to the quality and passion of our retailers and the complete shopping experience they offer our visitors.

"The best judges are our visitors, so we asked our them to nominate their favourite store in each category via our Facebook page, and had over 2,500 responses."

Radio presenter, Edith Bowman, who hosted the awards night, said: “It was such a brilliant and fun night, rewarding a fantastic and hardworking bunch of people."