Chris Zardis has been a vital part of Southampton’s community for over a decade. Championing local events, new businesses and initiatives to his friends and neighbours to the point of irritation.

He set up Shop Local Southampton (https://shoplocalsouthampton.com) a resource for Southampton people to be involved in their community, highlighting everything from politics, cultural events, new building projects, reviews of new restaurants and so much more. He set up Shop Local, not as a business endeavour but as a public service, because of Chris’ genuine sense of public spirit and pride in his community.

He is also a font of local knowledge, particularly local history and culture, many times I have spent hours chatting to him about our local history, from Roman settlements, local place names, hidden gems across the city, our shared sense of loss around the loss of Southampton castle, to balancing the pros and cons of the land reclamation project of the 30’s.