Fri 18th Nov 2016 - Multi-site operators scoop six accolades at Star Pubs & Bars awards Multi-site operators scoop six accolades at Star Pubs & Bars awards: Multi-site operators scooped six accolades at Star Pubs & Bars’ 2016 Star Awards. Flying Pig & Lobster, the pub operator set up by Revolution vodka bar founders Roy Ellis and Neil Macleod and celebrity chef Simon Rimmer, won two trophies – team training and, for the second year running, retailer of the year, for The Elephant in Liverpool. Gastro-pub operator Whiting & Hammond received Star pub of the year for the Blue Ball at Walton on the Hill in Surrey, while Iain Pert and Gordon Hooley, of PG Taverns (Scotland), won best bar team for the Jolly Botanist in Edinburgh as well as a finalist position for retailer of the year. Michael Thomas, of The Roseacre Pub Company, which has grown to four pubs since launching in December 2014, was named newcomer of the year for his first venture, the Dovecot in Narborough, near Leicester, while Tony and Stephen Martin were awarded pub with the best pint for the Three Wheatsheaves in Nottingham. The winners were revealed at a ceremony hosted by Sky Sports pundit and former footballer Chris Kamara at the Titanic Hotel and Rum Warehouse in Liverpool. A total of 14 awards were presented to licensees from across the UK in categories ranging from best newcomer to best food pub, with half the 60 finalist sites being run by multiple operators. All 14 winners’ pubs had strong menus, reflecting the increasingly important role good food plays in pubs. Top for food in the Star estate was chef licensee Mark Anderson, who has worked for Michel Roux and Gordon Ramsay, and his wife Sarah, who won best food pub for The Ruddington Arms in Ruddington, Nottingham. Star Pubs & Bars managing director Lawson Mountstevens said: “Standards were higher than ever this year and the competition was very tough. The new talent we’re attracting to Star is of a high calibre, as these awards demonstrate. Likewise, many of our existing operators are at the forefront of the sector, pushing standards ever higher for the pub industry as a whole. It was a great honour to be able to recognise some of the country’s greatest licensees in our Star awards.”