Ilkley, the Yorkshire based indie toy shop, Games Crusade, has been honoured in a national UK’s Miconex Favourite Local Business competition. And TnP has an interview with the founder and owner in page 38 of our December issue.
Over 4000 votes were cast for over 1000 different businesses in the competition from across the UK, covering all sectors including retail and hospitality, with Games Crusade in Ilkley taking fifth place.
Independent retail businesses made up the top 5 UK favourite local businesses in the competition with Games Crusade in the top five.
“It was great to be nominated and even better to rank so highly, especially as the higher-ranking businesses were in Scotland and the Isle of Wight”
Games Crusade owner and founder, Lisa Dyson, first started her toy business 19 years ago and now owns two Games Crusade stores in Yorkshire – Ilkley and Harrogate, with her husband.
Lisa Dyson said: “It was great to be nominated and even better to rank so highly, especially as the higher-ranking businesses were in Scotland and the Isle of Wight. We really appreciate our customers taking the time out of their busy schedules to nominate us and it was a great opportunity to put Ilkley and Harrogate on the map.
“I think our customers voted for us because they know that we have a lot of product knowledge and many have come back and told us how well our recommendations were received by the recipients. We are always on the hunt for new and exciting products and customers often comment that they have never seen many of our puzzles and games elsewhere.
“In 2025 we’ll be heading to London and Nuremberg for the annual toy fairs and we are also having an even bigger stand than before at Airecon. Airecon is the second largest board game convention in the UK and is held in Harrogate in March. We have a stand for the duration of the show and will sell and demonstrate our fantastic range of board games to the hobby market.”
Games Crusade in Ilkley is part of the Ilkley Gift Card, while Games Crusade in Harrogate is part of the Harrogate Gift Card.
Read more in TnP December (page 38) about Games Crusade here.
