MULBERRY Hall, the crystal and china specialist in York's Stonegate, has the stamp of "a thoroughly modern businessman, quietly building a successful business through old fashioned values".

That is how Celia Maughan, assistant to Adam Sinclair, describes her boss as she nominates him as Business Personality Of The Year in The Press Business Awards, 2006.

The shop, which features a £56,000 Lalique table, and whose Sia Room displays the only artificial flowers ever allowed at the Chelsea Flower Show, is also in line for the title of Retailer Of The Year.

Twinkling on the shelves of the 1434 building are examples of Baccarat, Royal Crown Derby, Spode, Bernardaud, Gien and Waterford and, in spite of pressures in the retail sector, Mr Sinclair has maintained the shop's cutting edge of trends in china, jewellery, crystal and more.

Mulberry Hall was established in 1962 by Michael Sinclair, and his children, Adam and Rose, took over the shop and they now employ 70 people to run the 17 showrooms, several offices and a caf.

Under Adam's leadership, Mulberry Hall now runs a wedding list service and branched out into kitchen equipment eight years ago, opening the next-door Dining Warehouse.

Adam studied law and worked as a solicitor for a number of years, but was determined to maintain the high standards of customer service in the family business and a sense of community spirit.

His commitment to various organisations in the city include the York Civic Trust, York Business Pride, The Company of Merchant Adventurers and the City Centre Partnership. He is also founder of York Chamber of Trade.

Celia said: "Adam was particularly key in spearheading York Business Pride, which aims to tackle the more unglamorous side of local retailing, like cleaning chewing gum and cigarette butts off pavements.

"His work is crucial to cleaning up the city centre and making York a better place.