Wadworth has held its annual Best of the Best Awards, recognising the best pubs and people from its managed and tenanted pub estates.
The best business partners award went to Bernie and Carole Camish, of the Poplars in Wingfield. In 2002, Carol and Bernie transformed the Poplars into the quintessential village pub, wrunning it as family business with their daughters, Ria and Sam, and sons-in-law, James and Ben. The Poplars supports a pub cricket team with a cricket pitch in the pub grounds.
Lloyd Stephens, operations director for Wadworth’s tenanted trade estate, said: “This is a real family business and the genuine warmth generated by the family is palpable when you enter the pub … they are worthy winners of this award.”
Another big winner was the team at the Pheasant in Chippenham, winning best chef, best food and silver award in the best manager category.
Other winners included Dawn Eggleton, of the George Hotel, Frome, for managed house best team member, and joint winners Dan and Emily Brew, of The Curfew, Bath, and David Conroy at the New Inn, Coate, for tenanted trade best customer experience.
A special recognition award was presented to Gordon Straker for his dedication as business manager at Wadworth’s flagship hotel and pub, The Bear Hotel in Devizes.
The annual awards, which took place at The Bear Hotel’s grand ballroom in Devizes, celebrated the best hospitality talent across the Wadworth estate, rewarding standout managers, tenants, chefs, team members and pubs.
Wadworth chief executive, Chris Welham, said: “The Best of the Best Awards give us a fantastic opportunity to show our appreciation and celebrate the success of our dedicated tenanted and managed house teams. The competition is always incredibly tough, but the winners have gone above and beyond to show their continued commitment to both their pubs and customers.
“The awards ceremony is always great fun and it gives us the perfect opportunity to join together with our managers, business partners and team members from across the company. I’d like to thank everyone at Wadworth for their continued hard work and dedication in making the customer count every day.”
