With the governments roadmap for Post - Covid re-opening shining a glimpse of sunlight on the Otley business community, another welcome tonic arrived last week with the announcement of the winners of the 2021 Otley Business Awards.

Now in its 7th year the annual Otley OBAs have grown to become a regular fixture on the calendar for Otley’s shops, cafes, pubs and commercial businesses as some of Otley’s 360 or so businesses are assessed to find those offering the best service.

Awards were handed out by the new Otley Chamber of Trade President, Simon Raybould, where possible and safe to do so, on Friday 19th March bringing to a close 3 months of organization.

OBA organizer Helen Wilkinson said, “After a long period of hibernation for many of Otley’s businesses, especially retail, beauty and hospitality, it’s been a real pleasure to see the nominations flood in from customers for a wide range of the town’s businesses and also a pleasure to receive the often glowing findings of our mystery shoppers.

The Awards are open to every business in Otley, all that’s needed is for one customer to nominate them in one of the categories then they will be judged. Each of the 13 categories had a real variety of nominations this year, including many businesses that haven’t featured in previous years.

All our mystery shoppers live outside Otley, from places such as Silsden and one as far as West Bromwich, which made judging a challenge as our mystery shoppers have been unable to reasonably travel to Otley from the towns they live in to make personal visits. Although some categories could be judged as in previous years by anonymous mystery shopper visits, most businesses have been closed this January and February so those assessments had to be made by a mixture of online reviews, websites, social media and phone enquiries.

Sadly, circumstances also prevented us staging the usual glittering awards evening ceremony as we have done each March since 2015 but we hope to be back with a bang next year. The OBAs are so important to the town in generating a buzz, raising spirits and reminding our beleaguered shops, cafes, pubs and commercial businesses how highly Otley’s shopping public regards them together with reminding everyone of the diverse offer Otley’s town centre has.”

A special mention went to Sally Hinchliffe of Bondgate Bakery who was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award for many years of consistent voluntary contributions to the town, over and above her own business.