Punch celebrates strong relationships at third publican regional awards

Leading pub company Punch has celebrated the strength of the relationships it holds with its Publicans and the talent of the business and hospitality innovators in the North at its third Publican of the Year Awards of 2017.

Now in its second year, the North-East ceremony was attended by around 60 Punch Publicans and area managers and recognised regional winners and overall winners of the Publican of the Year award, Heartfelt Hospitality Award and celebrated Punch’s Rising Stars. 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.

Martin Bishop and his partner Alan from The Wadkin Arms in Osgodby, Selby were awarded the overall Publican of the Year Award. 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. They have become famous for their beer battered fish and chips, have a strong cask ale offer, a welcoming beer garden and always something going for the local community.

The Heartfelt Hospitality award was won by The Gilly Gate in York, for their 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, commented, “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, regional operations director at Punch, said, “The Publican of 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.

Southall added, “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.”