House of Cards wins Thatcham's best dressed Christmas window award 2021

The people of Thatcham have voted House of Cards as their best dressed Christmas window, in a festive competition run by Thatcham Town Council and the Newbury Weekly News.

The award was presented by Thatcham mayor John Boyd along with Newbury Weekly News editor Andy Murrill on Monday (December 13).

The company played their cards right with their creative Christmas idea of decorating a window with an interactive display.

The card shop managed to receive 373 votes, with Esteem Domestic appliances following second with 358 votes and Envy Hairdressing coming in third with 215 votes.

Customers could enjoy the festive design but also had the challenge of matching the Christmas films, which were incorporated in the design, to the mystery movie quotes which were also on display.

Store manager Sian Faulkner said that it was an opportunity for everyone to get creative and get involved.

She said: “It’s nice to get involved with the community and represent the company.

“It was a team thing; I try and get everyone involved, it is nice for us to work together.”

Winning was a “bonus” as the interactive aspect of the design was actually a part of the company's own competition.

She added: “We wanted something to interact with our customers so we have got quotes from films and they have to match them up.

“It was just a lot of fun but as we have done quite well, it’s a pleasant surprise really.”

The quiz for House of Cards customers comes with its very own prize.

“It’s just customer interaction, it’s nice to have something different," she added.

“We would love to get involved in everything next year, it’s that community feel and to put ourselves out there.”

Mr Boyd said it was nice to see this venue get an award.

He added: “It’s nice to see that they have done a spread across two windows. It’s such a nice thing to do.

“It was so good to see how many windows made the effort”.

He said it was interesting to see how the results differed from the mayor's winners, who were awarded at the Thatcham light switch-on, which took place on December 3.

He said: “It is important for the public to have their say.

“It’s also nice for them to get out and about, it was so good to see so many people get involved.

“It’s always subjective, what looks good to one, is different for another”.

The mayor's choice saw South African store SA Zim come out on top, with Envy Hairdressers following in second place for their Grinch themed window.

Mr Boyd and deputy mayor Jeff Brooks judged the windows for themselves on the night of the light switch-on and said that it was important to ensure the winners' window reflected the theme of Christmas movies.

Paul Rock from SA Zim said it felt “amazing” to be selected by the mayor for having the best window.

He said: “I am very pleased considering it’s the first time we did it."

Mr Rock commented on how it was nice to be a part of the community and to be involved with The Broadway.

He said: “Some of the displays were amazing. We went for the family community sort of look.

“It was tricky to keep it as an African shop, there are a lot of animals in the window, we had a Madagascar Christmassy look, we incorporated a lot of our animals.

“Our plan was to get kids and families to stop by and enjoy it.

“It was about getting kids to love seeing the animals, get them pointing at the birds and giraffes.”