GBPA 2019: what the winners had to say

The Morning Advertiser (MA) spoke to the 2019 Great British Pub Award winners to find out what it felt like to strike gold at the ‘pub Oscars’.

Brendan Padfield of the Unruly Pig in Bromeswell, Suffolk – who brought home the bacon in the Best for Wine category on the night (5 September) – told MA: “I am just so excited. We focused on the food, we then refocused on the wine – it’s an absolute validation for all the hard work by all the team. It’s amazing, I love it.”

What’s more, Harry Seccombe of Chaplin’s and the Cellar Bar in Boscombe, Dorset, winner of best live entertainment, having reached the final on several occasions added: “We live and breathe entertainment so it’s really good to get the recognition. Six times in the final is really good but to actually win it really means a lot.”

A finalist in four categories, and winner of two – Best Freehouse and Best Pub Garden – the Bull in Ditchling, East Sussex, was one of the big winners at the 2019 awards.

After winning the award for Best Freehouse, manager Molly Raftery – herself a finalist in the Best Pub Manager category – explained: “We didn’t think it was possible to win this award again, but we’ve kept striving for more, we’re constantly developing our business, building on our team, and it’s amazing to be recognised as the best in the industry.

However, run by husband and wife team Mark Annear and Mel Hard, it was Greene King pub the Cott in Dartington, Devon, that took the overall prize.

"It’s just great to have the recognition, we’ve built up a pub that was closed when we took it over and done loads of development and produced the food – we’re buying everything locally now – and we’ve got a great great local following,” Annear told MA on the night. “This is seriously a great accolade and we’re really pleased to get it.”

The winners on the night were:

Greene King Pub of the Year and Overall - The Cott Inn, Dartington, Devon

Best for Family - The Three Trees, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire

Best for Food - The Dog at Wingham, near Canterbury, Kent

Best for LGBTQ+ - Two Brewers, Clapham, south London

Best for Sport - Belushi’s, London Bridge

Best for Wine - The Unruly Pig, Bromeswell, Suffolk

Best Freehouse - The Bull, Ditchling, East Sussex

Best Inn - The Cartford Inn, Little Eccelston, Lancashire

Best Local - Chandos Arms, Colindale, north London

Best Pub Garden - The Bull, Ditchling, East Sussex

Best Pub Manager - Will Buck, the Nags Head, Covent Garden, London

Best for Beer - The Drawing Board, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire

Best for Spirits - Criterion, St Andrews, Scotland

Best for Cider – The Brunswick Inn, Derby

Best for Entertainment – Chaplin’s & The Cellar Bar, Bournemouth, Dorset

Admiral Pub of the Year - Nauticus, Leith, Edinburgh

Punch Pub of the Year - The Rising Sun, Truro, Cornwall

Ei Group Pub of the Year - The Tap on Tower Street, Harrogate, Yorkshire

Young Chef of the Year - Liam Siddy, the Legstraps, Wootton, Befordshire

Chef of the Year - Tom Parker, the White Swan, Fence, Lancashire