With the growing popularity of digital downloads, price cutting by major supermarkets and the trade-in power of Gamestation and Blockbuster, it’s certainly no easy time to be an independent retailer.

Yet there’s more to being an indie than just selling games and consoles. Many of these experts stock de-listed retro titles, others promote console and software repair services and the depth of knowledge at these specialists remains unmatched anywhere else in the video games trade.

So from rapidly growing mini-chains such as Grainger Games to solitary success stories like Ross Records; southern stars like Awesome Games to North of the border heroes like G-Force – MCV and Channel Advantage are celebrating the country’s top 20 independent specialists.

To read the full list, click here.