Award winning staff praised by North West hotel group

A special accolade for outstanding customer service and loyalty has been the feature of a North West hotel group’s annual staff recognition awards.

Breakfast supervisor Kath Pennington from Lancaster has picked up the English Lakes Hotels Resorts & Venues ‘Directors award’ for her exemplary service at Lancaster House over the last 22 years.

Meanwhile, wedding co-ordinator at The Wild Boar in Windermere, Emma Sanders, has won the ‘MRWB’ memorial award, made in tribute to former chairman and managing director Michael Berry, for making the most significant contribution to the success of the company in the last twelve months.

“I’m thrilled to win this special award and especially proud to have won the praise and recognition of my colleagues,” said Kath.  “Good hospitality and the pursuit of excellence go hand in hand with strong teamwork and it’s up to all of us to back each other up and constantly give our best – as I am sure we will continue to do in 2015 and beyond.”

English Lakes Hotels staff award winners 2015

The roll of honour for the awards included joint winners in two categories where the performance of nominees proved impossible to choose between.

The 2015 winners are:

• Front of house – Brian Jenkins, The Midland
• Chef of the year – Sam Pierce, Lancaster House and Angelo Ambrosio, The Wild Boar
• Food & beverage – Attila Boros and Tamas Nagy, both Waterhead
• Housekeeping – Enrique Olmedo-Ruiloba, Waterhead
• Support staff – Abby Porter, Group sales
• Unsung hero – Alan Inston, The Wild Boar
• MRWB memorial award – Emma Sanders, The Wild Boar
• Directors award – Kath Pennington, Lancaster House.

English Lakes Hotels Resorts & Venues managing director Simon Berry said:  “Kath’s positive, thoughtful and caring approach to guests and colleagues is an inspiration and epitomises our ‘+1’ culture to find creative ways of going the extra mile.  Her contribution in a career spanning over 20 years simply had to be recognised, so we created a one off award category.

“Emma richly deserves her award for her dedication in making The Wild Boar one of the top wedding venues in the North West. The results speak for themselves withwedding business significantly up year on year.

“This is all due in no small part to Emma’s hard work and dedication, as well as excellent communication with our brides and grooms to-be.  It is also her attention to detail in all aspects of wedding preparations that is turning dreams into reality for wedding couples at The Wild Boar.

“All of our award winners – and indeed the nominees in each category – are a credit to the company and we thank them for their ongoing dedication and professionalism.”

The awards, held at Cumbria Pub of the Year, The Wild Boar, included a three course lunch with citations for all award nominees read out before the winners were revealed. Presentations of bottles of champagne and framed certificates of excellence were made by Anne Cook, sister of the late Michael Berry.

For further information about English Lakes Hotels Resorts & Venues visit:englishlakes.co.uk