'We were up against a lot of legends': Action-packed High Street Heroes Awards for Preston record shop
Action Records’ Gordon Gibson won four trophies at the High Street Heroes Awards in Preston, including Outstanding Achievement in Retail and Customer Service Legend, after a record 84,000 votes in the overall competition.
“Music is different now, it’s not like when I first started. Now, you’d get a great-granddad and a great-grandson all mixing and listening to the same music!”
That's according to Gordon Gibson, who for 46 years has spent his time to supplying music fans from Preston and beyond.
This week, the manager of Action Records, on Church Street, told the Lancashire Post that his favourite part of his career had always been getting to speak to the new and interesting people who come through his doors - but that he had been blown away by all those who voted him for four trophies at this year's High Street Heroes Awards.
On Wednesday (October 7), Gordon came away with awards for Outstanding Achievement in Retail; Retail Manager of the Year; Independent Retailer of the Year; and Customer Service Legend - as well as a special commendation for the Proud Preston Award.
He told the Post: “It was overwhelming.
“There were a lot of categories, a lot of nominations, tons - absolutely tons. I would have been glad to get one, but four awards!
“We were up against a lot of legends - Livesey’s, Pickles, the Spud Brothers. But it was amazing, it was really good fun.”
After a record 84,000 votes in the competition overall, Gordon said he'd had no idea he'd come away with an armful of trophies - but that it was probably his dedication to listening to his customers that played a part.
“We don’t get caught up in fads,” he said. “People still ask, ‘How come you still sell CDs?’. It’s because I’ve got a lot of customers who want to buy them.
“CDs are officially on the rise again, but they’re underutilised. There’s a lot of shops that don’t sell them now because they don’t think it’s worth it to sell, but we get loads of kids buying CDs.
“But we let people come in and listen to albums a week in advance. If you put a record on, you tend to sit and listen to it - you’re taking out of the sleeve and putting it on. With CDs, you can just wander around. If you’re streaming, it’s completely different.
“I’m not knocking it, though. It can work for us, because people can check out stuff and listen to music online, and then decide they like it enough to go and spend £25.
“Music is different now, it’s not like when I first started. Now, you’d get a great-granddad and a great-grandson all mixing and listening to the same music!
“It’s not like the old days where it used to be very polarised. Everybody’s mixed up together.”
The High Street Heroes Awards are run each year by the Preston Business Improvement District and Visit Preston, and have been going on since 2023.
According to Gordon, the competition serves as a brilliant way to bring the community together.
“We’re just trying to do things that bring people in the town, doing events and just making it interesting for people,” he said.
“Preston is all right. We have a lot of nice people here, and we just try to look after them.
“You get to meet so many nice and interesting people here. And I love music. I love keeping up to date with everything.
“We all need somebody in town to do this stuff,” he continued.
“It’s good for bringing the town together, it’s good for lots of bars, and everyone was really happy with it. It’s really good.”