Tadcaster hat shop wins awards

Liz Devine-Wright has taken the overall titles of Specialist Wedding Supplier of the Year and Wedding Boutique & Accessories Supplier of the Year in the English Wedding Awards 2022.

Liz collected her two trophies at a ceremony held in the Mercure Piccadilly Manchester Hotel on Monday evening.

Said Liz: “It’s double celebrations for us this week after what has been a very difficult two years for all of us servicing the wedding industry.

“Government regulations forcing us to close, and heavy restrictions on wedding guest numbers, coupled with race meeting closures has severely impacted our business and the hospitality and wedding industries.

“Fortunately, we have come through this and are celebrating our wins and our milestone of completing 18 years in business.

This is the fourth win for Liz at the English Wedding Awards, as she took the overall titles after winning the Yorkshire regional heats, beating competition from suppliers from the North East and North West.

She has previously won a number of the awards at the events in recent years, but this year’s final came on the anniversary of the opening of her Simply Devine shop 18 years ago.

A spokesman for the English Wedding Awards said: “The winners represent the industry’s gold standard that work tirelessly to meet the demands of the couples and their guests.

“The Awards showcase some of the best wedding specialists that operate in the industry, whose excellence and commitment brought them at the forefront of the industry.”

Although the shop may have been closed for many months during the past two years, Liz has not been resting on her laurels.

As online shopping increased during lockdowns, she has plans to launch her collection on major online platforms – other than the Simply Devine website.

In preparation for this, she has devised a special security tag, allowing customers to try on the hats and fascinators to match colour and style, but once cut off, cannot be returned.

The shop has been shortlisted in the BizBubble awards.