Mica DIY members and suppliers gathered for the voluntary group's Annual General Meeting and Supplier Exchange at the Dalmahoy Marriott Hotel outside Edinburgh on March 3 - the first time the group has taken its annual event north of the border.
The AGM was followed by the Mica Exchange - a 'speed-dating' event from 10am-5pm in which every supplier present got a 15-minute slot with every buyer present. It's the third time Mica has run the event in this format, and it appears to work very well: "I have seen 23 retailers and taken 18 orders," one supplier told DIY Week towards the end of the day.

The day closed with a gala dinner, sponsored by Ronseal, and the annual Mica awards. The award for New Supplier of the Year went to Geocell, with Dexam and North West Keys also nominated. Draper Tools won the award for Promotional Supplier of the Year, presented by David Hidgcock (David Neill Mica Hardware), with nominations also going to Dexam and Ronseal.

George Forsythe of Deanston Electrical scooped the award for Rep of the Year, seeing off competition from Phil Rowley of Draper Tools and Dan Jordan of LG Harris, and the award for Supplier of the Year went to RK Wholesale, with Stax Trade Centres also nominated.

The award for the biggest value growth in purchases by a member went to Mica chairman David Morris of Morris Mica Hardware. Presenting the award, MD Steve Ball told Mr Morris: "I'm not sure people realize how much you do for Mica."

Merlin Mica Hardware at Sawston won the the Promotional Excellence Award; other nominees were Halls Mica Hardware, Mainlys Mica Hardware and Nibletts Mica Hardware. The award for the greatest percentage sales increase went to Woodpicker Mica Hardware, ahead of fellow nominees Coopers Mica Local and Gardners Mica Local.

Finally, the special Mica Co-operative Spirit Award was presented to John Dickey of T Dickey & Co Mica in Northern Ireland.

Mica members and suppliers dug deep in support of the Rainy Day Trust, raising a total of £777 for the industry charity. All donations went into a prize draw with prizes donated by Akzo Nobel, Ronseal, Masterplug and Mica itself. And after dinner guests were treated to an hour of Scottish humour by local comedian Eric Hutchinson.