David Robertson, managing director of the Pozzi/Bijou independent shops in Scotland’s Elgin and Buckie (and long standing PG columnist) is in the finals of the Great British High Street Awards, backed by Visa and the Daily Mirror.
David was nominated for the award by his local council (Moray), for his dedication to perpetuating trade in the Elgin community.
Commenting on the news, David told PG Buzz: “I feel I am honoured to have reached the finals, especially as there are just 12 nominees – three for each country in the UK.”
The judging panel (made up of retailing, business and community experts) were impressed by David’s passion and approach as that he showed as chairman of Elgin Business Improvement District (BID).
“The Elgin bid was the catalyst which allowed our history trail and regeneration of buildings to happen. As a BID is all private funding it allowed us to access over £3 million of linked funding which we were able to put to good use,” explained David. “As part of my role as chairman, I sat across three groups, but I was only a small part of a huge group of people,” added David, typically self-deprecating.
David was also feted for the relationship he has forged with schools over the last 15 years as well as his work on raising awareness on mental health issues, led by David opening up about his own experiences.
Of the latter, David revealed that the business editor of Daily Mirror applauded him for his passion on “shining a light on mental health issues among men”.
David has to wait until November 15 to find out whether he has won a national High Street Hero award, but is delighted to have reached this far in the competition.
“I am most proud of the journey my Mum and I have been on with our businesses and I couldn’t do any of it without her backing,” said David who juggles his Pozzi responsibilities with his part time role as business development director for Cardzone.
Top: David Robertson has long championed improving business in Moray.
