FESTIVAL Place has scooped a hat-trick of industry awards for its community initiatives.

Basingstoke’s shopping centre, Festival Place, has picked up three wins and a commendation at this year’s prestigious Sceptre Awards.

The Sceptre Awards celebrate excellence in the shopping industry and shine the spotlight on the country’s best management teams, retailers and suppliers with this year’s ceremony being held at the Royal Lancaster London.

Festival Place was awarded both regional and overall national winners for Community Initiative of the Year for its Dog-Friendly campaign.

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Festival Place team at the Sceptre awardsFestival Place team at the Sceptre awards (Image: Festival Place)

Festival Place is closer to its local community than many other comparable shopping centres and wanted to make life easier for visitors who were anxious about leaving their dogs behind on a day out.

It was the first UK shopping centre to have more than 110 dog-friendly stores, with more joining monthly.

The Business Performance team won the Innovation of the Year category for its retailer Shop Kind initiative.

The ShopKind campaign sees the retail sector acknowledging the important role of shopworkers and raising awareness of the scale and impact of violence and abuse against them. 

Festival Place launched ShopKind in 2020 post-Covid with a number of measures and initiatives, and was the first shopping centre ShopKind champion in the UK.

The security team went on to receive a Highly Commended for Security Team of the Year which recognises best practice in shopping centre security.

Business Performance Manager Rachel Carter said: “It was a brilliant night for Festival Place.

"We are so proud of all our teams involved in all the great initiatives we have created and supported, and to win against such tough competition was a huge achievement.”