The finalists are:
Heartwood Inns
Heartwood Inns has had an impactful rebranding in the past year and continues to drive its strong strategy and vision forward under a new investor, with its talented and stable team at the core of its success.
Rebranded from Brasserie Bar Co, this Raymond Blanc founded business, which has 21 sites has had an exciting and progressive year. This pub arm of the now Heartwood Collection (which includes Brasserie Blanc sites and is backed by Alchemy Partners), was started in 2010 and has evolved post-Covid with a new focus on freehold sites and rooms. It plans to reach 60 sites with 500 bedrooms by 2027 with a further four new openings planned for this year.
Newly opened sites include the Plough & Harrow in Long Ditton and the White Horse in Dorking, Surrey, which has seen a multi-million-pound investment and is its first site with rooms.
The strength and continuing development of the company’s people experience, including its impressive Stepping Stones training programme and impactful rewards and recognition initiatives, such as graduations celebrating progression achievements and team appreciation weeks, is helping drive its success.
The business is led by CEO Richard Ferrier who says Heartwood Inns is at the ‘height of people power’ with an excellent team of longstanding GMs, head chefs and central support. Heartwood Inns has a diverse team with over 55 nationalities and runs a successful initiative to recruit chefs from India, with 30 now recruited and with 100% retention.
Heartwood Inns has a big focus on the sustainability of ingredients and products it serves and was awarded a 3* Food Made Good accreditation from the Sustainable Restaurant Association last year.
Dishes are crafted by its talented team of chefs from quality, seasonal ingredients with Raymond Blanc still a guiding light around its food offer, which receives outstanding customer satisfaction levels.
Urban Pubs & Bars
Urban Pubs & Bars, now the largest independent pub operator in London, has continued to grow its impressive business in the past year, with a now 42 strong estate of pubs, bars and restaurants.
Founded in 2014, by the entrepreneurial Nick Pring and Malcolm Heap, the company whose strapline is ‘inspired hospitality venues’ has a diverse portfolio of sites. These include ping pong, live sports and pizza bar Bat & Ball in Westfield Stratford and Salt Yard Group restaurants/bars, which offer some of the best Spanish and Italian food in London. Its city bars include the Nest in Bishopsgate which serves excellent cocktails. Its urban local pubs, which have an excellent reputation for quality food, drinks and events, comprise half the estate and include the Cyclist in Balham and the Old Ship in Hackney.
Three exciting new openings in the past year for the business, which won this award last year, are the Railway in Putney, the Junction in Islington and its first venture into station sites the Victory at Waterloo, with all these sites exceeding trading expectations.
Different drinks are heroed at sites depending on their offer, such as at The Lord Walgrave in Marylebone, which has a big whisky range to complement its smokehouse offer, a strong craft beer focus at wet-only site the Griffin and an epic wine list at the Gatehouse in Highgate.
Urban Pubs & Bars has also strengthened its senior team in the past year with appointments including Chris Hill (former chief executive of New World Trading Company and RedCat Pub Company) as its first ever managing director.
Its entrepreneurial culture sees managers empowered to bring their own ideas to the business, whilst its freehouse approach to food sees its talented chefs crafting dishes from quality, fresh, seasonal ingredients, including making their own triple cooked chips.
With further expansion planned this dynamic company looks set to have another successful year.
Robinsons
Family-owned Robinsons, which has been established for 185 years and is led by cousins William and Oliver Robinson, has 260 pubs across the north west including 30 managed pubs.
Its quality managed pub estate, built over the past nine years and which employs over 900 people, spans across Cumbria, Yorkshire, north Wales and Cheshire. Accommodation is a growing part of its sales mix, with 266 premium rooms now across the business.
Robinsons’ successful three new openings in the past year include Hartford Hall in Cheshire, while existing sites are continually well-invested in through its strong capex programme.
Its impressive collection of pubs includes the Airport, a unique, high-performing site which overlooks the runway at Manchester airport and which features an outside ‘hangar bar’ and ice cream parlour which helps to drive the site’s enviable profits.
Every pub is treated as individual and unique and are focused around trading styles and run by empowered managers who help deliver a strategy they helped create. Managers have lots of freedom to implement their own ideas across key areas of the business, but also have lots of central back up with strong support structures and tools, including the latest technology, to help them and their pubs to flourish.
At the heart of its success is Robinsons’ positive family-feel and strong focus on training and developing its people, including apprenticeships, with great team retention and rewards too.
Strong food sales, which account for 50% of total sales, are the platform on which the business has been built, with the development of five different menu platforms and strong investment in growing central resources bringing excellent results in the past year.
Robinsons beers represent a significant share of its pubs drinks sales, with excellent standards ensured through its quality assurance scheme ‘Best In Glass’ which a record number of pubs achieved in the past year.
The business also works with local schools on a work experience programme to help support students with special educational needs.
Buzzworks
This dynamic family founded and led business, established in 2002, is one of Scotland’s leading hospitality operators, and never stops improving and innovating to help drive its continual growth and pursuit of delivering ‘world class hospitality’.
Its 19 venues across towns and suburbs in the east and west coast of Scotland feature successful concepts Scotts, Lido, Herringbone and House venues, which include the Bridge Inn in Linlithgow and the Fox at Troon, which has its own golf simulator.
Buzzworks is proud to make a positive social impact in the areas in which it opens and with the strength of its excellent reputation is able to successfully trade in areas many others wouldn’t be able to, such as its striking Scotts at Greenock, now the biggest site in the group which opened last summer. Other new openings last year were Thirty Knots in South Queensferry, which has a stunning view over the historic Forth Bridge.
To maximise its trade in outside areas the business has invested in wonderful terraces at its waterfront locations and also has Outboard – a seasonal café/bar located next to Scotts in South Queensferry.
Buzzworks, which employs around 800 people, has a people first philosophy and has featured in ‘The Sunday Times Best Companies To Work For’ an impressive eight times. It continues to drive enlightened and exciting people initiatives, which includes lots of flexibility around working hours, an innovative front and back of house leadership programme which has boosted recruitment, paid overtime including for GMs and a pro-social bonus scheme.
Other impactful people schemes include its ‘Live Your Life’ initiative where team can request regular time off to do something important to them, recruiting chefs from India and Kenya and a team ‘Loan Out to Help Out’ scheme to help with Christmas costs.
Purpose as well as profit is at the heart of decision making at this progressive-thinking business, with managing director Kenny Blair a passionate and hands-on leader who is at the forefront of modern Scottish hospitality.
