HOLLY Blue, the card and gift shop that opened in Milton Street Saltburn last July, is a finalist in the Retas, the nationwide greeting card retailing awards.

The Retas are the only dedicated award for greetings card retailers, celebrating the finest stockists in the UK. Launched in 2005 by Progressive Greetings magazine, they recognise the contribution that all specialist retailers, multiple and independent, make to the greeting cards industry regionally and nationally. They also acknowledge other outlets including gift shops, department stores, garden centres, bookshops, and supermarkets; the finalists emerge from a wide range of competitive areas.

Holly Blue is one of the six finalists in the category of Best Greeting Card Retailer Newcomer or New Branch North. The owner, Michael Hampson, feels a sense of reward and recognition through reaching the Retas finals, and he is appreciative of the consistent support of fiancée Jacqui Buckworth over the first year of Holly Blue. “It has been a happy year,” Michael said. “We have many loyal customers within a friendly and welcoming community, and it is good to represent Saltburn as a finalist.”

The Retas award winners are to be announced at the Retas Awards Lunch on Wednesday, July 11, at the Dorchester Hotel, London.