“A standalone family-business loved by generations” - Atkinsons wins Sheffield Retail Awards

“He opened a small drapery just across the road from where we are now on The Moor, selling ribbons and beads, and the sorts of things that were in demand in those days.

"And from that very small beginning, and his attention to detail when looking after customers, over a number of years he expanded and then, just before the turn of the century, he developed a department store on this very site."

Managing director Nicholas, who is the fourth generation to dedicate his life to the store, indicates a line of old photographs on the wall outside his office: “It was a marvellous thing to see, internally it was well ahead of its time, with atriums, internal gardens, a zoo, and – of course – the famous grotto.

"When my great-great-grandfather died in 1929, his sons took over the business, and it continued to grow.”

Nearly 150 years on, Sheffield’s oldest independent is still going strong, a thriving business on the very same site it was first developed all those years ago.

This week, Atkinsons was named the winner of the ‘Large Retailer’ category of the Sheffield City Centre Retail Awards – and its managing director Nicholas Atkinson was presented with a Lifetime Achievement award, for his nearly 50 years of service.

The 2020 awards received a record number of entries and nominations, with people across the city keen to celebrate shops big and small, and the people who have kept them running efficiently this year against all the odds.

Nicholas said: “Atkinsons has seen a lot in its century-and-a-half, but I would say that 2020 has been as tough a year as any it’s faced.

"We shut down completely for three months in the spring, and when we came back, we took our commitment to our staff and customers seriously, working hard to make this a place where people were safe.

"It hasn’t been easy, but the people of this city supported us, as they always have.

“To hear that we’ve won Large Retailer of the Year for the second year running, at the end of such a difficult year, has been an unbelievable pleasure.”

The judges’ statement read: ‘Atkinsons is a Sheffield institution; a family business that has experienced many challenges over the decades, but is still going strong 150 years on.

‘Most larger retailers have the support of a network of branches and central functions. Atkinsons is still very much a standalone family-business loved by generations of people that through its own ingenuity is able to compete shoulder-to-shoulder with the major multiples.’

Speaking about Nicholas, the judges added: ‘We consider that Nicholas Atkinson has given so much to Sheffield over a 50-year career that it’s time to give something back and recognise his contribution.

‘Undoubtedly, he has made an outstanding contribution to retail, but that label really does not reflect the enormity of the journey he has taken with this family favourite.

‘He is a local hero that deserves recognition for a lifetime of achievements.’