This year saw it working with Spring Fair to bring the Housewares Innovation Awards to Birmingham for the first time. The move more than paid off, with nearly 400 members of the trade descending upon the Vox Conference Centre to celebrate excellence in the housewares sector.
The retail categories were judged by an expert panel comprising Peter Battersby from Charles Viancin; Patrick Winters from Pendeford Housewares; Patrick Gardner from T&G Woodware, Lisa Scott from Gourmet Gadgetry, Russell Elmes from Russ Elmes Agencies, Melanie Harradine from MJ Harradine and Kevin Towler from Kevin Towler Agencies.
Sponsored by Polder, the Wholesaler of the Year award recognises the outstanding contribution to the homewares sector from wholesalers who have shown inventiveness and innovation in getting manufacturers products in to the marketplace and supporting Britain's independent houseware retailers.
Describing the company as 'ahead of the game', the judges said: "Stax have developed an amazing website for independent shops "" you can pay a fee and they will create a website for you; your stock is Stax's shop". The wholesaler has just opened a branch in Scotland and continues to lead the way in innovation.
Operations Director, Nigel Wright, collected the award at the ceremony on behalf of Stax and commented, "This is the first year that there has been a category for best wholesaler so to win the inaugural award against some very stiff competition is extremely pleasing."The Spring Fair is regarded as the most important event of the year for kitchen, dining and housewares with companies from across the country coming together to exhibit the latest innovations from the sector.
Commenting on the evening's success, event director, Hannah Dedman said:  "These awards are designed to shine a spotlight on the UK's most outstanding retailers and suppliers for ensuring that the end user, the consumer, gets the service, quality, style and functionality they expect. The team has worked incredibly hard on the event and Jay was perfect as host.
 Simon Wright, Purchasing Director of Stax concludes, "It is always great to receive recognition and the Housewares Innovation Awards are well respected within the sector as they celebrate businesses that strive to continue to improve and innovate.  We would certainly put ourselves in that category and have invested heavily in technology over the past twelve months, streamlining ordering, replenishment and delivery systems to ensure we can offer our customers the best possible experience when they shop with Stax."