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Winner of The Mall's Retail Factor competition announced

The Mall Fund has named babywear brand, Little Baby Boutique the winner of the Retail Factor 2013, the start-up business competition designed to promote budding entrepreneurs by providing them with practical support and free trading.

Little Baby Boutique winner Anne-Marie Paterson will claim a prize which includes a further two weeks free trading space in The Mall Luton, a £500 cash contribution towards stock and a place at the prestigious Oxford Summer School Academy Course in August 2013.

Retail Factor is designed to give young businesses the chance to flourish.

Retail Factor provided 18 start-up businesses across the UK with the opportunity to trade at The Mall shopping centres for two weeks. Following the trading period the finalists were assessed on commercial viability, originality, market appeal and development potential, with Little Baby Boutique deemed to be the strongest finalist.

Mark Bourgeois, Managing Director of Shopping Centres at Capital & Regional comments: "We were greatly impressed with the calibre of this year's finalists however Little Baby Boutique stood out for many reasons; the business's branding was extremely strong owing to Anne-Marie's creative background as a graphic designer and she made effective use of multichannel retailing, ensuring a strong online and offline presence. This, coupled with well judged pricing and use of eye catching merchandising positioned Anne-Marie as a worthy winner.

"We are confident that Little Baby Boutique will build on this opportunity to expand further and look forward to watching the company grow. Retail Factor is designed to give young businesses the chance to flourish and we are pleased to be able to give Anne-Marie the opportunity to build on her skills as a retail entrepreneur."

Little Baby Boutique traded in The Mall Luton and received fantastic feedback from shoppers and confirmed to the judging panel, including StartUp Britain co-founder Emma Jones, that the business had the 'Retail Factor'. The Luton based business was started in November 2012 and sells one of a kind, handmade baby clothes for newborns and toddlers.

Anne-Marie Paterson, founder of Little Baby Boutique, added: "It is thrilling to have won the Retail Factor. It is a privilege to have the opportunity to trade in the Mall Luton and meet customers face to face. Winning the competition will allow me to build on my customer base and take Little Baby Boutique to the next level."

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