Top 50 Indie Chartman has been shortlisted as the Retail Chain of the Year 2017 in the prestigious Grocer Gold awards, run by Forecourt trader’s sister publication The Grocer.

The hotly contested national awards are popularly known as the Oscars of the Grocery Industry, and the latest recognition comes after Chartman previously won the Independent Forecourt of the Year accolade in the 2015 Retail Industry Awards.

The West Country company, which was the highest climber in Forecourt Trader’s Top 50 Indies, recently opened its eleventh outlet at Winterbourne Abbas in Dorset.

The celebrations were heightened by the announcement that Chartman’s sister company, CTC Wholesalers had been selected as a finalist in the Wholesaler of the Year 2017 category in the same Grocer Gold Awards, sitting alongside national brands including Bookers and Bestway. The CTC name is a shortened form of the Camel Trading Company, originating from their first base in West Camel, Somerset, where they first started wholesaling to petrol filling stations and convenience stores.

The two companies are now based on Exeter’s Marsh Barton estate, and together employ 185 people. They started trading in Exeter in 1984 at the now defunct Esso Exeter and Middlemore service stations and at former warehouse premises on the Sowton Industrial Estate.

Chartman director Clive Sheppard commented: “We are honoured to be chosen to be on the shortlist. I think it reflects the trends in the industry where consumers are moving away from traditional food shopping towards more convenient offers such as forecourt stores.

“From a Chartman point of view it is recognition for our strategy of sustainable growth, which has recently seen us open our latest outlet at Winterbourne Abbas.”