THOUSAND of shoppers have shown their support for retailers and restaurants in Festival Place.

Polling opened at the start of September for this year’s FP Gold Retailer Awards, which celebrates the success of retailers at Festival Place and recognises employees who go the extra mile to deliver outstanding customer service.

Shopping centre bosses have received more than 1,000 online votes and around 2,000 paper votes so far since voting opened.

Neil Churchill, centre director at Festival Place, said: “We’re very pleased with the response we’ve had so far to our annual FP Gold Retailer Awards and we’ve received many positive comments from shoppers.

“Our retailers share the Festival Place ethos of putting the customer experience first in everything we do, and this awards scheme is a great way to celebrate that commitment.

“There’s still a time left to vote, so I would urge people to take part if they haven’t already done so.”

A selection of the categories which shoppers can vote in are: Menswear Store of the Year, Ladieswear Store of the Year, Kids’ Fashion Store of the Year, Footwear and Accessories Store of the Year, Specialist Store of the Year, and Entertainment and Technology Store of the Year.

The remaining categories are Health and Beauty Store of the Year, Jewellery Store of the Year, Restaurant of the Year, Cafe and Food Outlet of the Year, Manager of the Year, Employee of the Year, Service with a Smile Award and Store of the Year.

The deadline for shoppers to cast their vote is Sunday, after which all the votes will be tallied up in preparation for an awards evening at Las Iguanas on October 21.

This is the third year that the awards have been run by the shopping centre and aims to champion all the retailers and restaurants in Festival Place, as well as the staff who go the extra mile for visitors to the town centre.

One participating shopper will receive a £250 “Golden Ticket” Festival Place gift card to spend in their favourite stores.

To vote for retailers, go to festivalplace.co.uk/gold. Paper votes can be made at the customer service lounge at the centre.