THE UK’s largest independent bathroom and tile retailer, Better Bathrooms, whose warehouse and trade counter is in Leigh,have received a top award.

The company won the prestigious Best Home and Garden Retailer prize sponsored by Retail Focus at the eCommerce Awards for Excellence 2013.

The awards are a key event in the eCommerce calendar and within the Best Home and Garden Retailer category, Better Bathrooms emerged victorious ahead of Victoria Plumb, Just Fabrics and World Stores.

At the awards ceremony at the Marriot Hotel, Grosvenor Square founder Colin Stevens revealed: “I am so excited we have won an eCommerce Award for Excellence – this prize shows how much the business has achieved over the past 12 years and how important eCommerce is. The entire team are so proud of our achievements to date, and our constant ambition generates the motivation to reach greater accomplishments.”

Rebecca Slater, Event Manager for UBM Live, organiser of the eCommerce Awards for Excellence and eCommerce Expo, said: "Ecommerce is a world that arguably moves faster than any other area of online business. Keeping up with consumer demand and technological advancements is a huge challenge for businesses in this sector, but it is a challenge that all of our winners have faced head-on with much success."

Mr Stevens has built up the business he started 12 years ago as a 21-year-old. He began selling taps on eBay and has created a hugely successful retail business which now has three showrooms, two warehouses, two offices and a trade counter, and 181 employees.

The success he attributes to reinvesting profits back into the business and focussing on staff development.