Battlesteads in the village of Wark-on-Tyne, near Hexham, Northumberland, was crowned the Best Pub in Britain in the Great British Pub of the Year Awards 2010, held in London. What’s more, the popular pub-hotel also picked up the title of Best Green Pub 2010!
Licensees Richard and Dee Slade saw off stiff competition from pubs across the country to be crowned Great British Pub of the Year. Collecting their trophy, they said: “This is a fantastic result. We never expected to do this well, even though we’re very proud of what we’ve achieved at Battlesteads. Thanks are due to our wonderful staff and customers; without their support we would not be here tonight.”
Paul Charity, editor of drinks industry magazine Morning Advertiser, which organises the Awards, said, “The Great British Pub of the Year Award is the ultimate accolade in our industry, given to licensees at the top of their game. Richard and Dee’s exceptional talent, determination and passion put them ahead of the other excellent finalists and they should be very proud of their win.”
Richard and Dee’s journey to triumph began earlier this year, when they entered Battlesteads for the Best Green Pub category of the Awards. Last month, they learned they had won that Award for the north east and Yorkshire region and were short-listed with other regional winners for the national title. They travelled to London’s Park Lane Hilton for the ceremony, which was co-hosted by Morning Advertiser and guest presenter Lenny Henry.
The Slades moved into Battlesteads four years ago with ambitions to build a successful ‘green’ business, and have since implemented a number of environmentally-friendly measures. The pub-hotel was the first in the country to be powered by a carbon-neutral biomass boiler, which took almost ?20,000 off the annual heating costs. Gardens and vegetable patches are irrigated naturally using rainwater and food and drink are either grown on site or sourced locally to reduce food miles. Richard says: “As well as reducing our energy usage and carbon footprint, we’ve also tried to educate customers and other people locally about the environmental benefits of green policies.” battlesteads.com
Competition judge Glyn McCracken from Best Green Pub category sponsor SteriBev, a breakthrough natural cleaning product, said: “It was hard to select a national winner from the short-list of pubs with an impressive environmental record, but Battlesteads stood out as a great example of what a pub can achieve when it really commits to going green. Increasingly, pubs are looking for ways to reduce their environmental footprint, such as using fewer chemicals, increasing their recycling, reducing their water and energy usage and switching to eco-friendly cleaning products.”
SteriBev is owned by leading biocide company HypoTech Ltd. SteriBev is an eco-friendly cleaner, sanitiser and sterilisation product that eliminates the use of toxins, minimises chemical footprint, is not hazardous to handle and saves on time and money. hypotech.co.uk
The winners of the 15 national Awards are:
Best Green Pub and Great British Pub of the Year: Battlesteads, Wark-on-Tyne, Northumberland
Best Cask Beer Pub: Dove Street Inn, Ipswich
Best Cellar: Swan Hotel, Ulverston, Cumbria
Best Community Pub: Shoulder of Mutton,Kirkby Overblow, north Yorkshire
Best Creative Outdoor Area: White Horse, Brancaster Staithe, Norfolk
Best Entertainment Pub: Roxy Bar & Screen, Borough, London
Best Family Pub: White Horse, Ramsden Heath, Essex
Best Food Pub: Old Silent Inn, Stanbury, West Yorkshire
Best Freehouse: Ye Old Sun Inn, Colton, North Yorkshire
Best Gastropub: Butchers Arms, Hepworth, West Yorkshire
Best Live Music Pub: Hootananny, Brixton
Best Managed Pub: Quart Pot, Runwell, Essex
Best Newcomers: Brad and Molly Atherton, Kings Arms, St Just, Cornwall
Best Poker Pub: Brownlow Arms, High Marnham, Nottinghamshire
Best Tenanted or Leased Pub: Fighting Cocks, Horton Kirby, Kent
Best Turnaround Pub: Camden Eye, Camden
Our photo shows: (L-R) Lenny Henry, Dee and Richard Slade, Glyn McCracken from category sponsor SteriBev and Paul Charity, editor of the Morning Advertiser.
Notes to editor: The Great British Pub Awards are in their fifth year and are recognised as the most sought-after in the industry, attracting hundreds of entries from pubs across the country. Pubs compete in 16 categories from Best Gastropub to Best Live Music Pub and, new for this year, Best Green Pub. To reach the finals, pubs had to succeed in a ‘paper’ judging, followed by a visit from an industry expert. Regional winners for each category were selected in August and from this shortlist, a national Award winner in each category was announced on 9th September, as well as the overall Great British Pub of the Year. For more information, visit greatbritishpubawards.co.uk
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Issued on behalf of:The Great British Pub Awards By: Shiel Communications
For information on the Awards: [email protected] information on Battlesteads:Progressive PR & Marketing [email protected]
Photo from flickr