Local sports equipment retailer that was founded in Kinnerley, Net World Sports, now based in Wrexham, has been awarded a ‘Mark of Excellence’ for their ongoing international sales success at one of the UK’s most prestigious ceremonies, the Retail Week Awards 2018, hosted by BBC presenter Gabby Logan with special guest speaker Professor Brian Cox.

Staged for 26 years, the awards, which are seen as the symbol of excellence for the country’s retail sector, presented Net World Sports with a ‘Mark of Excellence’ at a black-tie gala ceremony held at the glamorous Grosvenor House in London’s Mayfair on Thursday March 22. Shortlisted in the ‘International Growth Retailer of the Year’ category, the sports company competed against six other finalists including; health food chain, Holland and Barrett, electrical goods specialist, AO.com and clothing brand, ASOS, who were crowned the overall winners.

International sales make up more than half of Net World Sports’ annual revenues and in the last year alone the business has supplied quality sports equipment to customers in more than 100 countries, ranging from core markets such as the United States, Australia, Canada and Continental Europe through to Japan, Dubai, and Guam. Impressing the panel with their consistently strong export performance, as well as the ability to ship bulky sports equipment to North America in one day and to Australia in two, earned Net World Sports a place at the top.

Alex Lovén, managing director of Net World Sports, saids: “We’re truly overwhelmed to have been awarded a Mark of Excellence for International Growth Retailer of the Year at the Retail Week Awards 2018. Being shortlisted in these prestigious awards was an honour in itself, however to be recognised in what was such a competitive category is testament to each and every department and the efforts that they have put in over the past twelve months.

“Everything we do here at Net World Sports is about speed; we source, design and manufacture all our products in a way that ensures delivery times can be minimised, even to countries on the other side of the globe. Last year, our team went above and beyond to ensure all our customers, no matter where they are in the world, received the very best service and it is due to this hard work and commitment that overseas sales accounted for 61.5% of our annual revenue in 2017 alone.”

This award win is another ball in the back of the net for the UK’s biggest-selling goal manufacturer, who last week picked up ‘International Trading Business of the Year’ at Insider’s North Wales Business Leaders Awards 2018, just a month after being crowned Business Exporter of the Year at the FSB Wales Celebrating Small Business Awards 2018.

One of the fastest growing businesses in the UK, Net World Sports has hired more than 50 members of staff in the past year alone. Despite the numerous new faces joining the team, they are still recruiting for a number of exciting roles, from SEO Manager, Web Content Editor and Photographer in its marketing department to positions in the varying range of sales, customer care, logistics, website development, accounts and HR teams. To find out more visit www.networldsports.co.uk/careers.