Lynne and Andrew Thornton of Thornton's Budgens

Budgens supermarket boss Andrew Thornton has recently taken a big step forward in the battle to become an Olympic torchbearer by reaching the last stage of nominations. The green shop boss has made it through to the next round in the fierce battle to win the honour of being one of the 8,000 UK residents to carry the torch to the Olympic Games next summer.

The successful nomination was made by Hornsey and Wood Green MP Lynne Featherstone, who chose to nominate the Crouch End trader for his support of local charities and his green credentials. Thornton’s Budgens has launched a number of initiatives to help make the local area greener, including the ‘pennies for plastic’ scheme, sourcing local produce including growing the supermarket’s own greens on the roof of the shop, and recycling 94% of the shop’s waste. The Crouch End Broadway shop has also recently launched a community hub, available for local charities to use as a platform to meet local residents.

Mr Thornton will find out if he has been successful on the 5th December, when the final list of torchbearers will be released.

Lynne Featherstone MP comments:

“I’m thrilled that Andrew has beaten fierce competition to make it through to the final round of nominations.

“He is a credit to Haringey, with his green work and support of local charities. I think he is a real Haringey hero and deserves to represent us all in the Torch Relay.

Budgens boss Andrew Thornton adds:

“I’m very excited to have made it this far in the competition. I know that there are many deserving people out there, but it would be great to have my work recognised in this way. Being a torchbearer would be a real honour. I’ll just have to be patient until the 5th December, and fingers crossed!”