Gunwharf store celebrates double retail award win

Emma Terracciano of Antler receives her award for Manager of the Year from Stef Nienaltowski. Picture: Keith Woodland

Not only did the staff win Non-Fashion Store of the Year, their boss Emma Terraciano also scooped the coveted Manager of the Year award – and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.

Judges were blown away by the team’s application, which boasted exemplary examples of customer service and evidence of Emma taking the Antler brand and turning the Gunwharf store into a hub and training base for the brand.

The branch has been named as the ‘Global Model Store’ for Antler. After months of hard work reviewing, actioning and implementing store, stockroom, ways of working and back office standards, the brand decided that the Gunwharf store would be the best example for rolling out these processes to other stores.

Emma advised that this was a real honour and testament to the team’s hard work.

In February 2017, at an Antler conference, the store won a Top Store Highest Increase award.

Emma said of her latest win: ‘We’ve worked hard for this and I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for my amazing team.

‘I love my team and they love what they do.

‘Every morning I come to work with a mantra of making sure that my staff are happy before they start their shift. That is the highest priority to me.

‘I’m really touched by this win and I couldn’t be prouder of everyone.’

Judge Stef Nienaltowski, director of Shaping Portsmouth, said that, for the judging panel, Emma’s win was a real ‘open and shut case’.

Stef said: ‘All of the judges were extremely impressed with the application submitted for Emma in the Manager of the Year category.

‘Myself and the judges always find it difficult to pick our winners. We go through each application thoroughly and weigh up the examples provided. However, with Emma, it was a real standout case.

‘The details in the nomination pack really stood out and we made the decision unanimously.

‘The team at Antler should be incredibly proud of what they have achieved in the past year and Emma should be commended for leading her team so successfully and championing her brand.’

Stef said that his favourite part of acting as judge was seeing the innovation behind business practices and decisions.

He explained: ‘This is my second year acting as a judge and I love seeing how businesses grow.

‘Each and every one of the firms that enter into the competition are different and it’s a pleasure reviewing the innovation behind their work.’