Meet the winner of the Best City/Urban Pub 2023 sponsored by Molson Coors

Naturally, the Turk’s Head is full on match days – when rugby-goers perpetuate a longstanding tradition of sticking their used ticket stubs to the ceiling – but it also revels in providing a space for popular events and groups to meet that keeps the tills ringing in between.

It’s home to a choir, a running club, and regular comedy, jazz, soul, blues and big band nights.

Recent investment​

In addition to the light and spacious main bar, the pub has a large function space with its own street entrance, toilets and bar, where these can take place. The space is also a venue for many weddings and other private functions through the year.

Recent investment in an outside Secret Garden area has further increased the pub’s ability to host both its own bespoke events and popular ones on the Fuller’s roster, including its famous Shakespeare theatre nights.

The Turk’s Head has a brilliant food and drink offering – including 31 beer taps – with service from an affable and professional team that manager Oliver Coulombeau recruits from the local community.

Great example​

This includes several team members with intellectual disabilities, as the pub attempts to drive accessibility and inclusivity in the workplace.

Sustainability is noticeably high on the agenda with Oliver putting all aspects of the business under genuine and rigorous scrutiny, resulting in some innovative – and at times counter-intuitive – measures to cut energy consumption and save costs.

The Turk’s Head is a great example of a pub that celebrates its history – a scene from the Beatles film A Hard Day’s Night was filmed in the bar – while keeping pace with the commercial needs of the modern world.

Full list of 2023 GBPA winners:​

Great British Pub of the Year 2023 – the Cholmondeley Arms, Malpas, Cheshire​

Best City/Urban Pub – the Turks Head, Twickenham, Greater London

Best Country/Rural Pub – the Cholmondeley Arms, Malpas, Cheshire​

Best Pub for Food – the Loch & The Tyne, Old Windsor, Berkshire​

Best Pub for Dogs – the Bellflower, Garstang, Lancashire​

Best Pub for Families – the Plough, Normanton on the Wolds, Nottinghamshire​

Best Pub for Entertainment – the Kings Arms, Bexleyheath, south east London​

Best Pub Garden – Gaggle of Geese, Buckland Newton, Dorset

Best Pub to Watch Sport – the Royal Dyche, Burnley, Lancashire​

Best Sustainable Pub – Stroud Brewery Taproom, Stroud, Gloucestershire

Best Pub Chef – Charlotte Vincent, Candlelight Inn, Chard, Somerset

Best Young Pub Chef – Karl Quirante, the Cricketers, Ormskirk, Lancashire

Community Hero – the Old Abbey Taphouse, Manchester​

Admiral Pub of the Year – Boot & Shoe, Ackworth, Pontefract, West Yorkshire​

Stonegate Pub of the Year – the Woodman, Ruislip, north west London​

Greene King Pub of the Year – the Stag, Lyndhurst, Hampshire​

Marston’s Pub of the Year – Rose & Crown, Worcester, Worcestershire​

Punch Pub of the Year – the Plough, Prestbury, Gloucestershire