PAVERS Ltd, the York-based footwear retailer, is striding ahead with news of its latest achievement - being named a finalist in the prestigious UK Footwear Awards.
The possibility of winning the Best New Store category comes as Stuart Paver, managing director, is seeking planning permission to build a new £2 million head office/warehouse at Northminster Park, Poppleton, nearly four times the size of the one it opened on the Poppleton business park nearly three years ago.
The massive expansion is necessary as Pavers prepares to open its 46th outlet, this time at Masson Mills, Matlock, Derbyshire, in three weeks time. It brings the number of Pavers employees to 350, 50 of them in York, and the total is expected to rise to more than 400 by the end of the year.
Pavers' successful new concept store, Catherine Kinloch, located within a retail crescent on the bonny banks of Loch Lomond, Scotland, has impressed the UK Footwear awards judges.
As finalist in the Best New Store category, Pavers will be up against the cream of the footwear industry at London's Dorchester Hotel on Thursday, April 22.
The store, named after Pavers' founder Catherine Kinloch Paver, is impressive and set in beautiful surroundings. It offers 5,000sq ft of quality footwear, from outdoor to special occasion wear and top brands like Ecco, Van Dal, and Clarks.
Mr Paver, managing director and finalist in the 2002 Evening Press Business Personality of the Year awards, said: "Our Catherine Kinloch store has had an extremely successful launch, and although we are up against tough competition in the awards, I feel confident we will win the Best New Store title at the prestigious awards dinner."
The store opening, last Easter, was celebrated by a charity water ski by Mr Paver, five miles across the Loch. It raised nearly £10,000 for Cancer Research.
There are two Pavers stores in the York area. One, in Piccadilly, offers the latest styles from top brands and has been trading from the same location for more than 25 years.
The other is at McArthur Glen Designer Outlet, Fulford, where it offers savings of at least 30 per cent on top brands.
Updated: 10:10 Wednesday, March 24, 2004
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