Newcomers win award for turning tables on dining

A couple who used to run London public relations agencies have won a top food award for their first pub.

Licensees Ross and Philippa Williams escaped the rat race to set up the Wellington in Hereford-shire in 2002.

This week they won the Flavours of Herefordshire Pub of the Year award, designed to recognise the county's finest cuisine.

The couple sold their house and used most of their savings to buy the freehold of Wellington for £285,000.

Philippa said: 'It wasn't the pub we wanted it to be, but we couldn't afford to close it. So we had to refurbish while trading.

The pair made the move after long working hours meant that they couldn't spend much time with their children.

Ross said: 'I'd be working all the time and end up not seeing my children from Sunday evening to the following Saturday morning. This job is hard work but I tend to get a couple of hours off in the afternoon so I can spend quality time with my kids.

The pub is dry led with 65% of sales coming from the restaurant and Ross puts yearly turnover at £250,000. But life at the Wellington wasn't always that successful: 'When we got here, the hardest thing was winning over the locals. At first they weren't keen on two Londoners taking over their village pub but now they're really supportive, Philippa said.

Before taking on the pub, head chef Ross only cooked for friends so he had to train himself to provide 50 or 60 covers at a time.

He said: 'This award is a great recognition of our central philosophy of producing simple, delicious food. Herefordshire (has an) abundance of fantastic produce making sure the customers know they're eating local produce is important.

Under the Flavours of Herefordshire awards, the pub picked up Commended in 2003 and Highly Commended last year.