Martin Bishop and his partner Alan, from The Wadkin Arms in Osgodby, Selby, won publican of the year at Punch’s third Norther awards event.

Since taking over the tiny pub, they have transformed it from a rest point that largely attracted HGV drivers, to a pub truly at the heart of the community, with the warmest of welcomes.

Punch logoThey have become famous for their beer battered fish and chips, have a strong cask ale offer, a welcoming beer garden, and always something going on for the local community.

Now in its second year, the ceremony was attended by around 60 Punch publicans and area managers. The evening was hosted by Mandy Southall, regional operations director for the North East, Yorkshire and Cumbria, and took place at one of Punch’s recently invested sites — the Castle Inn, near Harrogate.

The heartfelt hospitality award was won by the Gilly Gate, in York, for its efforts in establishing itself as the hub of the community and its contribution to local charity initiatives.

The Cross Keys, in Hamsterley, and the Nags Head, in Preseton, were awarded in the rising star category, having been nominated by Punch’s publican development and training managers for embracing Punch’s Art of the Possible training scheme.

Martin and Alan, winners of publican of the year, said: “We are truly overwhelmed and very proud to win this award. This is very much a team effort from everyone that works at The Wadkin Arms, especially our head barmaid, Maureen. We are proud to be a Punch pub and we have excellent support from the community as well as our Punch development manager, Dave Rowland.”

Mandy Southall added: “The publican of the year awards was a fantastic evening to celebrate the success of our publicans across the North. Not only is it important to recognise the hard work these individuals and teams have put into their pubs, it provides a valuable opportunity for people to share their successes and inspire others.

“At Punch, we adopt a very much hands-on approach to supporting our publicans and it’s great to see their efforts recognised at the awards ceremony.

“One of the award winners wrote to me after the event to say that the Punch team all felt like friends who want to help her and celebrate her success. For me, this highlights the true importance of these events — to cement such positive working relationships with our publicans.”