Hawthorn Leisure is celebrating after being recognised in one of the most hotly contested categories at the annual Publican Awards. In its first year of entering, Hawthorn Leisure was shortlisted for the Best Tenanted or Leased Pub Company up to 500 sites.
Hosted by Rob Brydon, the awards celebrate the very best in the pub business. The judging process is notoriously tough, beginning with an in-depth award submission and followed by headquarter and site visits, mystery shoppers, a Partner survey and the operator team being quizzed by a panel of industry experts.
Hawthorn Leisure was recognised for anchoring the way it does business through its five core values; Respect, Thinking Differently 'The Crazy Ones', Edgy Energetic Spirit, Make it Happen and Winning Together; with an exceptional Partner-Head Office relationships as a result. Additionally, since its inception in 2014, Hawthorn Leisure has invested heavily in its pubs and as a result of this has delivered strong returns.
Gerry Carroll, CEO at Hawthorn Leisure, (pictured centre with Matthew Ward (Chief Financial Officer) and Mark McGinty (Managing Director Operations), commented, “We are so proud of how far we have come since our inception four years ago; Hawthorn Leisure is the biggest start up Pub Company our industry has seen in the last 14 years.
'We are famous for great people, great pubs and great propositions and have proved that speculation about the death of the community pub was premature by reducing our vacant pubs from 40% to less than 5%.
'I am so proud of the team for all of our successes; people are our ultimate asset and I want to say thank you to every one of them for helping us get so far in such a short space of time.”
The Best Tenanted or Leased Pub Company up to 500 Sites award was won by Palmer’s Brewery.