After a 2 year hiatus, it was a huge pleasure to welcome over 200 members of The Coaching Inn Group family to Coombe Abbey to celebrate the achievements of our team over the last year and more. With more than 20 awards up for grabs on the evening, guests arrived to a champagne and canape reception with live acoustic music and fire-dancers. Following a welcome speech from CEO Kevin Charity and a delicious two course dinner, compère for the evening, Mat, introduced our first presenter to the stage – Steve Brown!

Scroll down to see all of our winners and read why they received their accolades. After the awards our guests were treated to a live performance from Pure Paloma, her amazing band and burlesque dancers. As the evening continued the cameras were put away and the team boogied into the night with a live DJ provided by The UKDJ.

The Coaching Inn Group Award Winners Revealed

Front of House Person of the Year – Nicole Slaverse

The Front of House Person of the Year award is for person that has shown excellent product knowledge, a commitment to delighting our guests and helps deliver fantastic secret shopper scores. Nicole is fantastic when looking after guests, takes leadership in running a busy restaurant and never fails to go above and beyond, going out of her way to deliver magical moments to everyone who visits The Golden Lion.

Night Porter of the Year – David Barker

The role of a night porter is a tough one, working alone and through the dark hours of the night. This award recognises the night porter that has gone out of their way to support the operations of the hotel by using the time overnight to help their daytime counterparts. Since joining the team at The Rutland Arms Hotel, David has worked tirelessly through the night to aide the daytime operations, is a friendly and bubbly person, greeting every guest with a smile and conversation, and is a true advocate for the Coaching Inn Group, taking time to talk to guests about the group and our different hotels.

Excellence In Guest Service 2022 – Angus Illingsworth

We are well known for the exceptional service that we deliver to our guests. This award recognises the person that constantly goes above and beyond for our guests and was available to any team member from any department. Angus consistently identified by guests for their friendly personality, delivers a fantastic guest experience that is often the highlight of their visit and is a true superstar of his hotel, highlighted by guests and his team at The Talbot in Malton.

Kitchen Team Member of the Year – Connor Pettitt

Working in a kitchen is not an easy job and this award recognises any team member from Kitchen Porter, Commis Chef, Chef de Partie and Sous Chef that has supported the smooth operation of our kitchens and the delivery of fantastic food to our guests. Connor supports the kitchen team at The Bell Inn, Stilton and steps up when needed, has been committed to pushing himself to be an integral part of the kitchen and has progressed and developed their skills to become a core part of the team.

Sous Chef of the Year – Marius Mahai

This award is for the sous chef that has been a rock for their head chef to rely on, supporting the success of the kitchen and always ready to take the lead when the head chef isn’t there. Marius has been a stable and reassuring presence in The Three Swans, Hungerford‘s kitchen over a rocky couple of years and has been an asset to the kitchen and their hotel, a key player in the success of their business and always provides reliable support to the head chef and has had to step up to lead the kitchen for significant parts of the last year.

Maintenance Person of the Year – Kenny Roxburgh

The maintenance person of the year award is for the person within the group that has supported the upkeep of our Inns, that has maintained our high standards and has worked tirelessly to ensure our buildings are
constantly operational. Kenny work across The Talbot, Oundle and The Bell Inn, Stilton and has committed to maintaining high property standards, been a reassuring presence for the general managers that they support and brings expertise and skills levels that really benefit the upkeep of our Inns.

Housekeeper of the Year – Shannen Philipps

This award is for the housekeeper that drives exceptional standards, shows attention to detail and is committed to delivering a high level of room standards for our guests. Shannen pushes herself and The Castle, Conwy team to give guests the best experience they could ask for, she is supportive of the team and always available for them if needed and gas been an exceptional leader and driven to improve the department.

Receptionist of the Year – Hayley Cobbold

Often the first point of contact with our guests, either through email, phone or face to face, our receptionists give a great first impression and then further deliver on this through the guest experience when they are with us. This award recognises the person that embodies this for each and every guest. Hayley is organised and efficient, ensuring the smooth running of the reception operation at The Three Swans, Market Harborough, has been a consistent and valued member of the reception team for a long time, embracing and leading change and has stepped up to lead the department and ensure the hotel’s continued success.

Bar Person of the Year – Tom Hallsworth

This award is for a team member that primarily works on the bar and has shown excellent product knowledge, guest service and the ability to drive wet sales. Tom recently joined the team at The Rutland Arms, Bakewell and has improved standards and the product offering of the bar, helped implement new initiatives and ideas, and has taken our drinks menus, especially cocktails, to the next level.

Newcomer of the Year – Adam Fresher

The Newcomer of the Year award recognises the person that is new to The Coaching Inn Group family and has hit the ground running in driving success at their hotel. Adam had an immediate impact at The Talbot in Oundle and has connected with the team to drive engagement, as well as showing tremendous commitment and drive to support the hotel through difficult periods.

Supporting Person of the Year – Dom Solesbury

With such a diverse spread of locations, every hotel benefits from people within the group supporting them, be it through working on site, offering advice or helping drive initiatives. Dom has been a lifeline to many of the Coaching Inn Group hotels, has been happy to step in at short notice to provide much needed support and has maintained and driven high standards across multiple hotels within the group, whilst developing his own team at The White Hart in Boston.

Duty Manager of the Year – Hollie McKenzie

This award recognises the Duty Manager that has led their team and the operation of the hotel, delivering success in sales and guest service and has shown responsibility in leading the shifts that they are the on duty manager for. Hollie has grown and developed to become a truly dependable manager at The Golden Fleece, Thirsk, has been on a constant path of development and progression and delivers a consistently high standards that is well known within their team and with guests.

The Unlocking Potential Award 2022 – Hollie Bufton

This award recognises the person that embodies our philosophy of ‘Unlocking Potential’. This is for the person that has embraced career development and truly unlocked their potential by progressing through the ranks at their hotel. Hollie started her career with us as a front of house team member and has grown year on year to develop her career and is now a fundamental part of their hotel becoming an invaluable member of the management team at The Feathers, Helmsley.

Central Office Person of the Year – Jo Gale

The team at central office work tirelessly every day to support each and every hotel. Each department is integral to complimenting the work done on the floor around the group. This award is nominated by you, for the person that you felt had the
most impact in supporting your hotels. Jo has been a constant support to our hotels as well as the central office function, she has gone above and beyond her role, always being available when needed and through some of the most challenging and unprecedented periods over the last year and more, she has supported each and every team member.

Deputy General Manager of the Year – James Brown

A deputy manager needs to be ready in all situations, prepared to take the lead when their GM isn’t there, and be able to step in and take on the function of the GM, whilst also being a cohesive link between management and departmental teams. This award is for the deputy that has used this position to contribute to the success of their hotel. James always leads from the front, with a ‘walk the walk’ attitude and has delivered exceptional results for their hotel, being a consistent leader in the business. James has stepped in without falter every time their GM isn’t there, always giving The White Hart Royal a ‘safe pair of hands’ when relied upon by their GM.

Team Spirit of the Year – The Talbot, Oundle

We all know the challenges of working in hospitality, and the true secret to succeeding is the spirit of teamwork. This award recognises the team that pulls together in the good times and the tough times, and the team that gives off an aura of warmth whenever anyone walks through the door, not necessarily because of anything they are doing, but just by the atmosphere their team spirit creates. This hotel has a clear philosophy of working together that comes naturally to each and every team member, they deliver consistent results driven by the cohesion between the team and they embody the Coaching Inn Group culture and create an environment that is joyful to work in.

Heroes of the Year

Each month our Inns nominate one of their own to be ‘Hero of the Month’. This is more than just an employee of the month award – it is for people who go above and beyond their role to help their colleagues, delight our guests and many more reasons. At the end of the year we ask our GMs to choose their overall ‘Hero of the Year’ for their hotel and these are the winners from our family of Inns.

Group Hero of the Year – James Brown

Every month our teams nominate the person that has stood out in your hotel as being a hero. This was always meant as more than an employee of the month award, it was for the person that goes out of their way to make a real difference.
This has evolved to highlight one person at each hotel that becomes their ‘hero of the year’ and from these people, we recognise the group ‘hero of the year’. It was a really tough decision to pick one overall winner, but James scooped his third trophy of the evening and will enjoy a trip to Broadway as our Hero of the Year!

Head Chef of the Year – Ben Coleman

The award recognises the head chef that has successfully led their team, is constantly adapting their menu with the latest food trends and maintains excellent food quality and kitchen management. Ben has built a stable team around them when there is a well publicised industry chef shortage, is constantly innovating and developing their menu to be able to display the best food in their area and has driven the standard of their food to an exceptionally high level and stabilised the kitchen at The Three Swans, Market Harborough.

General Manager of the Year – Jamie Chilton

The highly coveted General Manager of the year is hotly sought after by every GM within the group. The past winners reads like a who’s who of remarkable managers – Mark Chapman, Joe Lavin, Tracy Marper, Tom Reeve It is no easy task to win this award, it requires consistent performance over the whole year, delivering on all of the core metrics, and fundamentally developing and leading a team that will embody the culture of the Coaching Inn Group. Jamie has delivered fantastic results this year. Although this award focuses solely on this past years performance, they have achieved it consistently over a number of years as well, he has gone above and beyond his role, supporting other hotels and other general managers and has taken on a hotel that underwent a big change, and have delivered success on every measurable target.

Hotel of the Year – The Feathers, Ledbury

The hotel of the year recognises the hotel with the best all round performance. It is a consideration of all factors from financials, to premium standards and team cohesiveness. After yet another fantastic year, it takes a lot for one hotel to really
stand out, and this award really is a mark of excellence, driven by great people in all departments. The Feathers in Ledbury won this award as they have shown fantastic standards in every department, raising their game and offering excellence in service, have delivered phenomenal results consistently throughout the year, beating like for likes and budgets one of the standout performers of the group and have performed exceptionally across every department to become the marquee venue in its town. Supported by an outstanding senior team, they have had a remarkable year and are truly a worthy winner of this award.

Thank you to all the people who made the Coaching Inn Group Awards 2022 possible, including: the team at Coombe Abbey, Pure Paloma, The UKDJ, Northern Visuals, Matthew Clark and many others.

Our people are at the center of our business and are critical to our ethos of Hospitality from the Heart®. As we continue to grow we are constantly creating a wealth of new jobs which are opportunities to unlock the potential of our existing team and those who wish to take the next step in their career. If you want to join the Coaching Inn Group family, take a look at our careers website or email your cv to [email protected].