We caught up with Retailer Awards Judge Tom Richardson for 5 minutes to ask him all our burning questions:

• Who are you? Where are you from? And what do you do?

My name is Tom Richardson, from London and I manage the Paxton and Whitfield Store in Jermyn Street, Piccadilly.

• What was your first job?

My First job was as a retail assistant at Daylesford Organic, here I first worked with cheese for the first time.

• What have been your career highlights so far?

Having the opportunity to work twice at the iconic Bra Cheese Festival in Italy and being toured around the Gabriel Coulet Roquefort production facilities, caves and farms in France.

• What are you looking forward to from joining our judging team?

Meeting likeminded people who love good deli food!

• Why should retailers enter these Awards?

They are a fantastic opportunity to highlight the things you are doing differently in your business and an opportunity to showcase the wonderful people that are working at your shops and the products you have.

• Who or what has been your biggest influence to get you to where you are today?

Jon Thrupp – the Head honcho at Mons Cheesemongers. The most charismatic and knowledgeable cheese professional you’ll ever meet.

• What’s the most unusual situation you’ve found yourself in because of your job?

Selling French cheese to predominately Italians whilst only speaking English in the Cheese festival in Bra, Italy.

• Which celebrity would you most like to work with and why?

If Arsene Wenger or any of the 2003-4 Arsenal Invincibles squad want to collaborate on a football focused deli-project I’m all ears.