Mohammed Alshaya to join prestigious grand jury for global retail competition

In joining the grand jury, the M H Alshaya Company Chairman will sit alongside a broad spectrum of CEO level, respected retailers from around the world, as well as senior representatives from academia, FMCG companies and suppliers.

In addition to Mohammed Alshaya, the grand jury will comprise-; Duncan Angove, General Manager and Senior VP - Oracle Retail; Bernie Brookes, CEO - Myer, Paul R Charron, Chairman Emeritus - Liz Claiborne; Rick Darling, President -Li & Fung USA, Ravi Dahr, Director & Professor of Marketing - Yale Center for Customer Insights; Wu Jianzhong, Chairman - Wumart Group; Dr Lev Khasis, CEO, Chairman of the Executive Board - X5 Retail Group; Lucy Neville-Rolfe, Corporate and Legal Affairs Director, Tesco; Richard Simonin, Group CEO - Etam; Simon Susman, CEO - Woolworths; Marty Wikstrom, Partner - Atelier Management LLC.

Following the huge success of the inauguaral World Retail Awards held in Barcelona in March 2007, the organisers have also announced that the 2008 competition site is now open for online entries, with the closing date confirmed for 9th November 2007.

Building on the enormous impact of the accolades presented this year, the awards promise to become one of the most significant dates in the global retail calendar, and are designed to highlight and reward excellence across the key areas of retail skills and operations. Entries are now being invited in the following seven categories:

• Responsible Retailer of the Year
• Innovative Format of the Year
• Emerging Market Retailer of the Year
• Marketing Campaign of the Year
• Retail Destination of the Year
• Employer of the Year*
• Multi-channel Retailer of the Year

In addition, the organisers have revealed that two further categories will again be selected by the grand jury; namely the Multi Market Retailer of the Year and Retailer of the Year. Nominations for these categories will come from the judging panel, with the award winners chosen by the competition's grand jury, who will meet to review all of the short listed entries during the World Retail Congress at the CCIB International Convention Centre on 8 April 2008.

Ian McGarrigle of the World Retail Awards said, "There has long been the need for a global event to celebrate and highlight some of the outstanding practices and significant progress made by retailers around the world every day. In 2007, not only were the number and standard of entries beyond our expectations, but the feedback that we've received on the impact of the awards on winners' businesses has been incredibly positive. We are delighted to be building on this success in 2008, and look forward to generating even greater excitement."

This year, the Awards were attended by more than 700 members of the global retail community. The winners were:

• Retailer of the Year Inditex
• Multi Market Retailer of the Year IKEA
• Responsible Retailer of the Year Marks & Spencer
• Innovative Format of the Year American Girl Place
• Emerging Market Retailer of the Year Pantaloon (India)
• Marketing Campaign of the Year Sainsbury's "Active Kids"
• Retail Destination of the Year Mall of the Emirates (UAE)
• Best Use of Technology Vodafone
• Consumer Icon of the Year Kate Moss

In addition, three outstanding individuals were nominated for entry into the Retail Hall of Fame for their exceptional contribution to retailing, including Ingvar Kamprad, Founder and Chairman - IKEA; Masatoshi Ito, Honorary Chairman - Ito Yokado and Gordon Segal, Founder - CEO of Crate & Barrell.

The nine winners for 2008 will be announced at the World Retail Awards gala dinner, on 10 April 2008 at the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (MNAC) in Barcelona. The awards, which are organised in association with Oracle, are a major, and growing, part of the extensive World Retail Congress programme (9-11 April 2008).

Online entry is open until 9 November 2007 at www.worldretailawards.com.