The Oracle VIP Reception at the Oracle Retail Week Awards last week saw retail luminaries from around the UK and Europe gather to have a drink and celebrate the successes of retail in the last year. Guests included Lord Harris of Peckham, Tesco's Philip Clarke, Vanessa Gold from Ann Summers, former Retail Week editor Tim Danaher, Richard Pennycook from Morrisons and Ian Cheshire from Kingfisher Group.

The new Retail Week editor-in-chief, Chris Brook-Carter, attended and took the time to speak to the guests about the value of the Oracle Retail Week Awards to the industry and to thank Oracle for its dedication to supporting the industry.

Chris said: "I'd like to say a real heartfelt thanks to our partner this evening: Oracle. I had the privilege of being at the judging day and I got to meet Sarah and the team and I was struck by not only the passion that they have for the whole awards system and everything that means in terms of rewarding excellence within the retail industry but also their commitment to retail in general, and it's that sort of relationship that marks out retail as such a fantastic sector to be involved in."

Chris's speech can be watched in full below: