We're Winners...........

Wow - we're winners - the Victoria Inn, Salcombe won an award last week.

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We had a great night out last Thursday - at the 2009 Annual Dinner & Tribute Estate Awards. The event was held at the Atlantic Hotel, Newquay (http://www.atlantichotelnewquay.co.uk/) and after an initial mix up with our booking, they gave us a superb suite! Very nice it was too, pity it was only for 1 night! The food on the evening was really good and the service excellent! Breakfast the next morning even more so......

We found to our delight that we were shortlisted for SIX awards, a couple we knew about, but they were:

Pub Floral Display of the Year (we got a highly commended for this one!)
Cask Ale Pub of the Year (Tenancy)
Training Award

Wine House of the Year

New Tenants of the Year

The one we actually won was Marketing and Business Innovation of the Year (Tenancy). What a fantastic achievement in our first year for us and all our loyal hard working staff!! !

In the picture you can see SOH and I with the sponsors of the award Diageo GB, and a St Austell representative. Not only did we win a lovely plaque for our outside Pub entrance, but we also received £500 of holiday vouchers! That will go towards a lovely holiday after the summer season has ended - something to bear in mind when we're knackered out again!! We have of course treated our team to a little thank you each as well.

In a business that seems to be suffering a lot of knocks, particularly at the hands of our cretinous politicians it was great to meet other licensees making a success of their business. Its also always such a good opportunity to meet colleagues from the brewery and our industry and this particular evening was no exception!

So to everyone at St Austell who put so much effort in to the evening a huge 'Thank You' for giving us such a great time!

On the home front, I continue to make good progress in my recovery, although its very much a case of 2 steps forward and 1 step back.... Sunday was a two steps back day and today was 1 day forward! With only 52 days to the wedding I have to concentrate on getting fit and well - not thin, just fit and well........having said that I've put myself on a healthy eating plan, lots of vitamins and walking with Rosie when I feel up to it.

On the Victoria Inn re-fit front, well............ what can I say!! We got home from the awards on Friday morning to find absolute chaos in the Pub - virtually everything was done, but it looked like one massive building site! Dust covered anything and everything........... because of that I couldn't play as much of a part in the clean up as I would have liked, however, despite staff being in most of the day Friday, SOH and I putting in a 17 hour day and then being up for 7 on the Saturday, we were still not able to open for Saturday lunchtime. However, everyone turned up again on Saturday morning - and somehow we were able to open for 5 Saturday afternoon.

SOH has a really great eye for decor and he has put up different pictures, mirrors etc to what was up previously. I did the blackboards and signs for outside, and between us we made the Victoria Inn 'our' pub, with 'our' stamp on it.

The floor in the restaurant is Brazilian slate and is truly beautiful - it has opened up the restaurant and with less dividers in the room there is far more natural light coming in from the estuary.

A new way of laying out the comfy seating area has given more covers as well as the new sexy red leather sofa's being one of the first things that customers see.......... and yet again, this is the area that people are naturally drifting towards!

We have (thankfully) been quite busy since re-opening, and customers love the new look! It's certainly given the pub a different atmosphere - it feels calmer and warmer......??

Anyway - the re-furb has moved upstairs now............ where there was a garden area, there is now yet another building site! The paving now has to be done so that the awning can be placed, the 'Hobbit House' (our en-suite holiday accommodation) has a fab new roof, builders will be going in there in the next few weeks to transform that. The upstairs restaurant will start to be painted tomorrow, the new lighting is in place - only the carpet to make firm decisions on! And BREATH!!!!!!!!!!!

Carl the builder has been a joy to work with - and when he looks me in the eye and tells me its on track, I believe him....... I just take every available opportunity to remind him that we have about 200 guests at our wedding on the 20th March!!! In fact I tell every workman that - just to ensure they get a sense of purpose!!

So there you have it - another interesting week as a pub landlady/project manager/ customer services director/bridzilla................. I'll leave that last bit for the next blog update!!