Wongs x Derek's Celebrates Joint Social Storytelling Award

We’re thrilled to share another piece of exciting news from the Wongs team. Following a brilliant evening at the Liverpool Celebrates Mystery Shop 2026, we’re delighted to have taken home the Liverpool Celebrates Social Storytelling award.

The awards took place on Tuesday 15 September at the Adelphi Hotel, celebrating businesses across Liverpool city centre and the contribution they make to the city. We were incredibly proud to be shortlisted for three awards on the night: Liverpool Celebrates Positive Impact, Liverpool Celebrates Timeless Jewellery and Liverpool Celebrates Social Storytelling.

To then have our Wongs x Derek's collaboration recognised as the winner of Social Storytelling, with the award decided by public vote, made it an especially memorable evening for us.

A Collaboration with a Liverpool Twist

The winning campaign came from our collaboration with the brilliant team at Derek's, a Liverpool favourite known for creating incredible food, campaigns and visual mastery.

The idea was inspired by Chinese New Year and gave us the opportunity to bring together two very different Liverpool businesses to create something completely unexpected.

The Derek's team came into Wongs to sit down with Mr Wong and talk about what he wanted his sandwich to taste like. They discussed the flavours he loves, the ingredients he enjoys and the dishes and flavours that reminded him of Chinese cuisine and his own heritage.

From those conversations, the Derek's team set about turning Mr Wong's ideas into a limited-edition creation: the Mr Wong Sandwich.

It was a collaboration that brought together food, culture, heritage and creativity, and the finished campaign was everything we could have hoped for.

With Derek's behind the creative direction, photography and videography, the result was a visual and mouthwatering masterpiece. The campaign looked incredible, told a genuine story and gave people a completely different reason to engage with Wongs.

Watch the viral Wongs x Derek's collaboration Reel on Instagram

And if you're curious to see the Mr Wong sandwich that started it all, you can take a look at the limited-edition creation here:

See the limited-edition Mr Wong Sandwich on Instagram

Social Storytelling That Got Liverpool Talking

For us, the success of the collaboration was about much more than creating a sandwich. It was about telling a story and giving people something unexpected to engage with.

The campaign brought together Mr Wong's story, Chinese New Year, two local businesses and a little bit of Liverpool humour, all wrapped up in content that people genuinely wanted to watch and share.

The main Reel went viral, reaching an audience far beyond our usual jewellery community and showcasing a completely different side of Wongs to thousands of people online.

That is what we love about social media. It gives us the opportunity to show the personality behind the business, celebrate the people and businesses around us and create content that people might not expect from a jeweller.

And having the campaign recognised through a public vote makes the award even more special. It was Liverpool that decided, and we're incredibly grateful to everyone who took the time to support us and vote.

Three Nominations, One Very Special Win

Being shortlisted for three awards was a huge achievement in itself.

Liverpool Celebrates Positive Impact recognises businesses that make a meaningful difference to Liverpool city centre through social value initiatives, responsible business practices, charitable partnerships, employee volunteering, sustainability efforts and contributions that go beyond their core commercial activity.

Liverpool Celebrates Timeless Jewellery celebrates the jewellery business that achieved the highest score during the Mystery Shop visits.

And Liverpool Celebrates Social Storytelling recognises businesses using social media and digital platforms to tell their story, promote Liverpool city centre, engage audiences and showcase the vibrancy of the city.

To be recognised across three very different categories reflects just how many different aspects of the business our team contributes to, from the experience we offer our customers to the work we do within our community and the way we tell our story online.

A Huge Thank You to Derek's

While the award has Wongs' name on it, this particular one wouldn't have been possible without the incredible team at Derek's.

They brought their creativity, expertise and unmistakable visual style to the collaboration and turned a simple idea into something people couldn't stop talking about.

Their photography and videography made the campaign look incredible, while their approach to storytelling captured exactly what we wanted to achieve. It was fun, unexpected and unmistakably Liverpool.

We’re incredibly grateful to the whole Derek's team for working with us and for creating something that both teams can be proud of.

Mr Wong said:

“It was such a pleasure to work with the Derek's team. They came into Wongs and really wanted to understand the flavours and food I enjoy, rather than simply creating something for the sake of it. The finished sandwich was amazing and I loved seeing how they brought the whole idea to life. To then see how many people enjoyed the campaign and to have it recognised by Liverpool is very special.”

Proud to be Part of Liverpool

At Wongs, Liverpool has always been a huge part of who we are. From our original store on Hanover Street to our continued involvement in the city and the community around us, we’re incredibly proud to call Liverpool home.

Collaborations like this are one of the things that make being an independent business so exciting. We can work with other creative local businesses, come up with an idea that might be slightly unexpected and see where it takes us.

We're incredibly proud to have been shortlisted for three awards at Liverpool Celebrates Mystery Shop 2026 and even prouder to have taken home the Liverpool Celebrates Social Storytelling award.

A huge thank you to everyone who voted for us, everyone involved in the event and, of course, the brilliant team at Derek's. This one is a lovely reminder that sometimes the best ideas come from doing something a little bit different.

You can find out more about the awards and see some of the other recognition Wongs has received on our Awards page.