Best New High Street Business 2014 - The Brockley Deli

Congratulations to The Brockley Deli, winner of this year's Best Newcomer Award, thanks to a record public vote. The Deli and The Proud Sow butcher dominated the vote in a highly competitive field and were able to mobilise their fan bases very effectively.

In the end, the right newcomer won. The Proud Sow and third-placed LDN Beer Dispensary set similarly high standards, but they were standing on the shoulders of giants - building on the goodwill of established businesses and the popularity of existing high-streets. The Brockley Deli came from nowhere and settled in the most unpromising of locations, to become a smash hit.

In terms of the evolution of Brockley's town centre, the arrival of The Brockley Deli ranks alongside The Broca on Coulgate Street (which begat Brown's and Degustation) and The Orchard (which showed that Brockley was ready for a different kind of night-time experience than the Barge offered and paved the way for The Gantry). If it succeeds in dragging the town centre towards Brockley Cross, it will have achieved the impossible.

Any business whose founders have more powerful rose-tinted spectacles than even ours deserves to win this award. And for the first time, this year's winners will be given an actual certificate, to decorate their loos with, as they wish.

The pantheon of legends now includes:

Best Newcomer 2014 - The Brockley Deli
Best Newcomer 2013 - The Malaysian Deli
Best Newcomer 2012 - Gently Elephant
Best Newcomer 2011 - Brockley Market
Best Newcomer 2010 - El's Kitchen
Best Newcomer 2009 - The Orchard