The team at The Lion in Wendlebury, near Bicester, got a well-deserved break when a replacement crew from owner Brakspear’s head office arrived to run the pub.
The Honeycomb Houses team at The Lion. Back row, left to right: Charlie Wheeler and Dan Holloway, chefs from The Bull in Henley-on-Thames; Brakspear chief executive Tom Davies; finance director David Nathan; and interim operations director John Gormally. Front row, left to right: head of food, Ken Umasanthiram; Gheorghe Vasiliu, from The Bull; Honeycomb Houses graduate trainee, Zoe Barrett; finance manager, Vicky Manning; training manager, Gareth Jones; head of people Simone Brown
While the HQ team of seven, including chief executive Tom Davies, poured pints for the pub’s regulars, the permanent team enjoyed an all-expenses-paid night out. They visited Honeycomb Houses — Brakspear’s group of ten managed pubs, which includes The Lion — before returning to the pub for a nightcap.
The treat was a thank you from the Honeycomb Houses management to the team at The Lion for their hard work over the last six months, and a welcome to new general manager Theo Benson.
“It was great to leave the pub for an evening and enjoy time together as a whole team,” said Theo. “At Honeycomb Houses, our approach is to ‘treat colleagues as family, guests as friends’, so as a relatively new addition, I need to know what makes my new ‘family’ tick — their favourite drinks, the music they love. A fun night out was a brilliant way to kickstart that process, and we all got to know each other a bit better.
“The team have had a pretty tough few months as, like so many pubs and restaurants, The Lion has faced challenges around recruitment and the cost of living. So to have their hard work recognised and rewarded by the Honeycomb Houses head office was a real boost to team morale.
The Lion team, including general manager Theo Benson (back row, far left), with Brakspear chief executive Tom Davies (front row, left) and head of people, Simone Brown (front row, third from left)
“And I think we all enjoyed putting our chief exec and finance director through their paces with our drinks orders at the end of their shift!”
Tom Davies said: “We all enjoyed our night back at the sharp end of our business, and it was certainly a good reminder of how hard our pub-based colleagues work. I think we all needed a foot spa afterwards! The team at The Lion make serving food and drink look easy, but it requires real attention to detail and dedication to give every guest a great time.
“We’re delighted that Theo has joined The Lion, and look forward to seeing pub go from strength to strength as he helps his brilliant team continue to strive for excellence.”
The Lion started supporting Nais House this summer. So far it has raised more than £200 for the charity and has plans to stage further fundraising activities.
