Harrogate's hospitality heroes were celebrated at a glittering awards dinner at the Royal Hall last night (Monday).
The Harrogate Hospitality & Tourism Awards returned for a 17th year, hosted by local hotelier and event organiser Simon Cotton.
Simon was joined on stage by the General Managers from the member Harrogate hotels from Harrogate Hospitality & Tourism Association, along with the sponsors from 12 award categories.
The theme of this year's black tie event was a take on ‘Around the World in 80 days’ - but taking the audience around the world in 80 minutes.
This was to reflect that the hospitality industry is made up of a huge international workforce and to celebrate what a global community it is.
Joining Simon for the show this year was well-known hotelier from Rudding Park, Peter Banks.
Simon said:
“I love running these awards as I see how much they mean to everyone in Harrogate involved in the Hospitality sector."
Simon and Peter introduced the night via a video of them taking a train to India and other clips through the evening saw them riding a bike to China, taking a hot air balloon to America and finally a boat back to the UK.
Between enjoying a first class themed 4-course meal, the audience were entertained by dancers including a Chinese Lion dance, Bollywood-style dancers and American Cheerleaders with the New York Brass Band.
The Harrogate Hospitality and Tourism Awards aim to promote the town’s hospitality offering through celebrating and rewarding those individuals who show the "highest levels of commitment" and strive towards excellence on the town’s behalf.
During February and March, members of the public and visitors to Harrogate were invited to nominate individuals who they thought deserved special recognition.
And this year over 1,000 nominations were received before a shortlist was chosen by the category sponsors, who judge the awards.
Simon added:
“The awards reward not only the winners, but all those who are shortlisted and work in every area of hospitality, recognising the effort and commitment they make on a daily basis.
"Once again we received a huge volume of entries this year to test the judging panel and I’d like to thank everyone for supporting and getting involved. We have been able to reward some very worthy winners.
"The hospitality sector is so important to this town’s economy and it is wonderful to see the crème de la crème of their category being acclaimed for their efforts; both those shortlisted and those who won deserve their ‘moment’ in the spotlight and it was great to see everyone celebrating tonight!”
This year’s Award winners were:
Waiter/Waitress of the Year – sponsored by Harrogate Spring Water
Ashleigh Stubbs – The Mucky Duck
Bar Person of the Year – sponsored by Matthew Clark
Franklin Bouckley – Rhubarb Restaurant
Chef of the Year – sponsored by Sykes House Farm
Csaba Klimo – Pickled Sprout
Team of the Year – sponsored by Platinum
Sasso Restaurant
Newcomer of the Year – sponsored by Harrogate College
Illam Restaurant
Unsung Hero – sponsored by Bidfood
Alan Huddart – Harrogate Pub Watch
Outstanding Customer Service – sponsored by Slingsby
Lindsey Oldman-Alexander - Weetons
Restaurant of the Year – sponsored by Guinness
The Pickled Sprout
Bar of the Year – sponsored by Timothy Taylor’s
Hidden Lounge
Receptionist of the Year – sponsored by Harrogate Christmas & Gift
Lily Allen – Majestic Hotel
Housekeeper of the Year – sponsored by Beaucare
Sharon Thackray – The Bluebell
Harrogate Ambassador - sponsored by Your Harrogate Radio
Fiona Movley – Harrogate International Festivals
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