It’s not easy running your own business, juggling increasing overheads, big company competition and a move away from town and city centre high streets and local communities to online shopping.

So, we want to show St Helens small business owners some love and celebrate the best the town has to offer.

Make your favourite independent’s day by nominating them for our Best Independent Shop award and join the #ukindieday celebrations.

Independents’ weekend will run across the UK this Saturday and Sunday in a bid to support and promote independent retail businesses with International Independents’ Day being celebrated on Tuesday, July 4.

Independents account for around 65 per cent of the 290,000 retail outlets in the UK and they are at the heart of local communities.

Do you have a local butcher who you visit each week to buy your family’s meat?

Which of St Helens’ florists do you place an order with each Mother’s Day or Valentine’s Day?

When you want to buy something quirky or unusual for a friend’s birthday, where in the town would you go?

How about an outfit for that special occasion that you don’t want to discover is the same as someone else’s?

In our Best of 2023 campaign, we’ve given out ten awards in St Helens for hair, nails, fitness, tattoos and cocktails as well breakfast, pies, roast dinner, pizza and fish and chips.

Voting is currently taking place in Best for Pets 2023 in St Helens with the closing date midnight on Monday, July 3.

This week, we want to celebrate independent shops and businesses and the overall winner will be decided by you, our readers.

HOW IT WORKS:

Each Friday morning we will reveal new categories via our social media pages and ask you who is the best. Nominations will then close each Monday morning at 12pm.

Every Thursday we will publish a shortlist of finalists with voting officially opening.

You will be able to vote in one of three ways:

- By commenting under the relevant post on our St Helens Star Facebook or Twitter pages = 1 vote

- By entering via the online article on our St Helens Star website = 2 votes

- By entering via our St Helens Star newspaper = 5 votes

The following Wednesday evening we will announce the winner of that category on social media.

Usual Newsquest competition rules apply.

For more details go to newsquest.co.uk/terms

So, get in touch with your Best Independent Shop nominations and tell us who is amazing enough to be one of our finalists.

To make your nomination go to facebook.com/sthelensstar or find us on Twitter @sthelensstar

Alternatively, you can email your nomination, telling us the name of the independent shop or business, where they are based and why they deserve to be shortlisted, to heidi.summerfield@newsquest.co.uk

Don’t forget to keep an eye on our website and our social media each Friday morning, when we will launch a new Best of 2023 search and then every Thursday to vote for your favourite from our shortlist.