Hawksmoor, Loungers, Mission Mars, The Ivy Collection and Dishoom have been named as the UK’s best pub, bar, and restaurant operators at the long-awaited return of the Casual Dining Awards, which took place last week (on 27 April) at the London Marriott Hotel, in Grosvenor Square.
Mowgli, Pizza Pilgrims, wagamama, Caravan, Nando’s, Cosy Club, and Hickory’s Smokehouse were among the other leading brands who took home prestigious awards – covering everything from best family dining experience, and menu innovation to best brand marketing and design.
Multiple award winners included Mission Mars / Albert’s Schloss, Hawksmoor, and Bacchanalia.
Mission Mars had an evening to remember with Roy Ellis and Neil Macleod winning the coveted Trailblazer of the Year Award and then winning four more awards on the night for its popular Albert’s Schloss brand and for Mission Mars as Casual Dining Group of the Year.
Mission Mars co-founder Roy Ellis commented “The Casual Dining Awards are an energetic and enthusiastic celebration of some wonderful businesses in our industry. Hospitality is a tough industry facing unprecedented challenges – it’s good to occasionally focus on the positives and celebrate success. We have more than 1,000 colleagues working hard to deliver for our guests. The awards we received on the night are a tribute to their commitment, enthusiasm, and dedication.”
Stephen Herring at Diversified Communications UK (organiser of the awards and Casual Dining show) says: “The return of the Casual Dining Awards was the best yet. It’s been a great opportunity for this vibrant, passionate, and creative industry to get together and celebrate their successes. It’s exciting to see so much innovation, ambition, and dedication this resilient sector has to offer. Thank you to all the sponsors and judges and congratulations to all the winners!”
The Special Award, which goes to someone who isn’t an operator but has made an incredible contribution to the sector, went to Mark McCulloch for his work as the founder of Hospitality Rising. Previous winners of the award include Peter Martin from Peach 20/20 and Kate Nicholls OBE, Chief Executive, UKHospitality.
Hospitality Rising seeks to solve the hospitality recruitment crisis and change the perception of hospitality as a career. In the first six months it’s seen over 100,000 applications.
For further information, including the full list of winners, finalists, and judges, please visit www.cdawards.co.uk/winners-2.
