Posted Wednesday 29 March 2023
Community led pop-up shop, gallery, exhibition and event space Not My Beautiful House has been named Best Independent Retailer at the Kingston Borough Business Awards — capping a fruitful period of supporting the creative endeavours of students, artists and the local community across Kingston Upon Thames.
Not My Beautiful House is an initiative led by the Union of Kingston Students with support from Studio KT1 and Kingston University. Originally launched in 2021, and taking its name from the Talking Heads song Once in a Lifetime, the pop-up shop moved in to its current location in the town centre's Ancient Market House in May last year.
More than 170 organisations entered this year's Kingston Borough Business Awards, across 15 categories celebrating the innovation, vitality and resilience of local businesses, social enterprises and education. Kingston University was the headline sponsor for this year's awards, which saw businesses, charities and entrepreneurs from across the borough come together for the awards ceremony at the All Saints Church on Thursday 23 March.
Not My Beautiful House was named alongside Banquet Records, Salon No13 and the Cheeky Pea in a strong shortlist for this year's best independent retailer. After collecting the award, Not My Beautiful House shop manager Hannah Price, who is the Union of Kingston Students' commercial coordinator, said it was an acknowledgment of how the pop-up had been embraced as a retail destination by the town.
Since the project's inception, with a pop-up in Fife Road in 2021, it has sold work from more than 250 local creatives, supported local businesses and hosted more than 100 events and exhibitions while increasing footfall to the area, Grace Richards, Interim Deputy CEO of the Union of Kingston Students, said. The pop up offers young creatives an opportunity to gain business experience while they are studying, giving them skills in retailing, pricing marketing and the valuable ability to cost their work to clients.
Not My Beautiful House has also been awarded funding and support from Mayor of London and Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames and hosted events and exhibitions, including the monthly Maker's Market which has seen more than 120 stalls take part in 2022. The unique retail experience offered by Not My Beautiful House was key to its appeal, Claire Selby, Kingston University's Innovation Partnerships Manager, added. "Everything on sale is made locally and not sold anywhere else. We have built up an amazing community of sellers, many of whom have become allies of the project."
The Kingston Borough Business Awards are organised by Kingston Chamber of Commerce, whose Chief Executive Forbes Low outlined why Not My Beautiful House had been a fitting winner of the Best Independent Retailer Award. "The category celebrates not only the commitment and creativity of entrepreneurial independent retailers but also the role they play in their local communities," he said. "Not My Beautiful House is a fantastic example of what independent retailers bring to our town centre. The judging panel commended the strength of the application and the use of metrics to demonstrate the pop-up's success."
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