BEST DEPARTMENT STORE OF THE YEAR AWARD 2007 AND INDEPENDENT RETAIL SHOPS

That this House congratulates Williams and Griffin department store, Colchester, on winning the title of best department store of the year in the Drapers Awards for 2007; notes that in the process it beat stores such as Harrods and John Lewis; further notes that this follows an earlier success in 2005 when Williams and Griffin won the award for being the best independent store in the UK; pays tribute to all independent stores which, in an era of growing dominance by chains of national retail establishments with no association with, nor commitment to, local communities, strive to provide a distinctive local retail identity; and calls on the Government to investigate what action can be taken, in the planning process and in other ways, to encourage localised diversity as epitomised by Williams and Griffin department store and prevent the uniformity of clone town Britain.