26 October 2026
A health food shop barely a year old has beaten a record field of nominations to be named high street shop of the year.
Health & Remedy in Chard, Somerset has won the Love Your High Street Award 2026 after topping the public vote.
A panel of four judges, who each reviewed the business profiles and made their picks independently, narrowed the field to eight finalists from across the country. The public vote then ran from 14th September to 11th October.
Health & Remedy impressed with its community spirit. The shop set up Chard Guide, a free community page dedicated entirely to promoting other local businesses rather than itself. It has also had images of the town turned into artwork, appeared on local radio and BBC One, and previously won a national health food shop award.
Jason Wootton, joint owner of Health & Remedy, said: “Wow, what an incredible honour to receive this award! We were genuinely shocked to even be nominated for a Bira award as a relatively new business, so to go on and win is beyond anything we could have imagined!
“We absolutely love Chard and believe that being part of a high street is about much more than simply running a shop. It’s about supporting your community, giving something back and creating somewhere people love to visit.
“We hope our success shows that there are still fantastic opportunities for new businesses on our high streets. With a supportive town, exciting products and genuinely customer focused service, independent businesses really can thrive.”
Andrew Goodacre, CEO of Bira, said: “Health & Remedy is a brilliant example of what a new independent can achieve when it puts its community first. To be this young and already be shouting about other local businesses says everything about the kind of high street shop people want to support. Congratulations to Cris, Jason and the whole team.
"The standard of entries this year was extraordinary, and it was great to see so many communities get behind their local favourites.”
This year’s awards received 601 nominations, up from 588 last year, and 3,157 public votes were cast. Health & Remedy took 31.17% of the vote, with A Darn Good Yarn in Camborne, Cornwall coming second on 21.76% and Rocket and Bird in Taunton, Somerset third on 19.45%.
The other finalists were That Little Bookshop in Stafford, Garden King in Swadlincote, Derbyshire, Jackson’s, the Herbalists of Yorkshire in Doncaster, Not Just Pets in Frome and Bath, and The Mug Tree Tea Room in East Grinstead.
The winner will be celebrated during Love Your High Street Week, taking place from 9th to 15th November. For more information, visit the page here.
Cris Wootton added: “We’re incredibly proud to bring this award home to Chard and want to thank Bira, our amazing team and everyone in our wonderful community who has supported us. This award means the world to us!”
Want to keep on championing independent retail?
Now you've learned all about our awards winner and finalists, you can keep going and discover more about the Love Your High Street Week using the link below. Let's celebrate the shops that make your local high street unique.
Image credit: Nest & Fable Photography
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