St Austell recognises top licensees at awards

Managers and tenants from the brewery’s 170 pubs, inns and hotels in Devon, Cornwall and Somerset were recognized at The Eden Project to celebrate the best performing venues.

22 awards were presented, celebrating excellence in food and drink, accommodation, customer service, training and marketing.

Adam Luck, St Austell Brewery Estate director, said: “2015 was another excellent year for the brewery’s pub estate. We have welcomed a number of new pubs to the family, invested in many of our existing properties and had a record year for food sales.

“The annual estate awards ceremony highlights the great efforts all of our landlords and tenants put in throughout the year and is a great opportunity for everyone to get together and celebrate.”

Awards

Jason and Debbie Manton from The Globe, Topsham were awarded Pub Managers of the Year for the second year in a row for outstanding efforts and exceeding all targets. They also picked up Customer Service Pub of the Year (managed).​

The 2015 Tenants of the Year award went to Pete and Elaine Delaney from the Lugger Inn, Polruan, who saw sales grow by more than 20% last year.

The New Tenants of the Year were Dan Martland and Lisa Clarke from the Farmers Arms, St Merryn, a pub which had huge success over the past year thanks to its event-led calendar.  

The Director’s Award, presented by St Austell Brewery’s managing director James Staughton, went to Linda Prior from the Old Custom House, Padstow.

Prior took on the management of The Old Custom House in 1989 and has successfully grown the inn into one of the brewery’s most consistent top performers. Prior was praised for her management and for the time and effort put in to mentoring and developing future managers.

The Ship Inn, Mousehole picked up the Accommodation House of the Year (managed), with the Jubilee Inn, Pelynt picking up Accommodation House of the Year (tenancy), ​both of which saw strong growth in accommodation sales during 2015.

The Lifeboat Inn, St Ives scooped the Training Award for continuing to be one of the most engaged teams in the estate.

Samuel Jones won the Innovation Award - ​a new category - for being one of the most successful new openings the brewery has seen. The pub has embraced a range of new technology.

Alison Ede from The Masons Arms, Branscombe received the Food Pub of the Year (managed),​ with the St Kew Inn picking up the award in the tenancy category.

The Victoria Inn, Salcombe was toasted Wine House of the Year for its ‘pure passion’ for wine, and for winning Best Partnership Pub at the Publican's Morning Advertiser's​ 2015 Great British Pub Awards​.

Beer Pub of the Year (managed) went to The Rashleigh Arms, St Austell, a pub which has introduced a range of craft ales in 2015 and increased its beer sales by more than 20%.

Beer Pub of the Year (tenancy) was awarded to the Golden Lion, Port Isaac which also saw a growth in sales of St Austell beers.

There were two winners for the Best Turnaround Pub of the Year (managed), with The Old Success Inn, Sennen Cove and the Old Market House, Brixham both impressing the brewery’s judges.

The Best Turnaround Pub of the Year (tenancy) went to Lanivet Inn, while The Molesworth Arms, Wadebridge picked up Pub Floral Display of the Year.

The Central Inn, Newquay won Marketing and Social Media Pub of the Year (managed) with the same award in the tenancy category going to The Polgooth Inn, Polgooth.

Community Pub (managed) went to the Holmbush Inn, St Austell, with the North Inn, Pendeen picking up the award in the tenancy category.

Customer Service Pub of the Year (tenancy) went to The Cornish Arms, Tavistock, which also made it into the 2016 Publican’s Morning Advertiser’s​ Top 50 Gastropubs​.