Publican Awards 2016

Deltic Group, the 58-strong nightclub group led by chief executive Peter Marks, won best late night operator, best pub ops team and responsible retailer of the year.

Moving away from its Park Lane location to the excitement of Battersea Evolution for the first time, the awards, hosted by comedian Michael McIntyre, also saw Greene King’s Rooney Anand win business leader of the year and Shepherd Neame’s Jonathan Neame win the outstanding industry contribution category.

It was another big night for Chris Hill’s New World Trading Company, the Living Ventures off-shoot, as he added a further two Publican Awards to his bulging trophy cabinet, picking up best small employer and best managed operator (2-50 sites).

The night also saw a Guinness world record attempt for beer tasting, entertainment from Sky and a rocking after party.

This year’s charity was provided by Prostate Cancer UK with its Men Utd campaign.

Editor of the Publican’s Morning Advertiser, Ed Bedington, said: “I’d like to pay tribute to all our worthy finalists and a big congratulations to all our winners on the night. Judging these awards is both an honour and a privilege and one we take very seriously.

“This is an industry that is tough and challenging, but we have some fantastic operators that are rising to those challenges and are an example to not just the wider hospitality industry, but to business operators across all spectrums.

“These awards are a great chance to shout about all the great work that is going on in this sector, and the fact they’ve been doing that for 25 years now is a great milestone to see. Here’s to another 25 years of celebrating success!”