Fresh Direct has been awarded the Debenhams 2006 Christmas Supplier of the Year award.

The accolade was announced in September during Debenhams’ annual Christmas supplier meeting, and was given for the consistent service Fresh Direct provided to the high street department store during the eight-week-long Christmas period.

The firm has supplied Debenhams with produce for almost eight years.

Barbara Lamb, senior buying and distribution manager at Debenhams, said: “Fresh Direct has remained a consistent, honest and innovative company across the entire duration we have spent working with them, and provided us with an excellent service last Christmas - one of our busiest periods.

“Fresh Direct makes more deliveries to us than any of our other suppliers. On the rare occasion that an order has not been 100 per cent fulfilled, Fresh Direct has made every effort to recover the order in an impressive time, so that by the time the order is shipped out from our distribution partner the order will have been rectified. Operating an open, two-way relationship, we have never experienced any unexpected or unjustified price hikes - which counts for a lot in this business,” she added.