Greene King team members celebrated their 2020 successes following the challenge of a pandemic at the recent Pride of Greene King Awards ceremony.
The UK’s leading pub company and brewer held the virtual awards, hosted by CEO Nick Mackenzie and comedian and Virgin Radio presenter Johnny Cochrane, which recognised teams and individuals for their outstanding achievements. The awards, based on each of Greene King’s five values, recognised the stars of the company, along with honours for Team of the Year, Outstanding Contribution and the Happiness Award.
Winners include the Kings Arms pub team in Bagshot, who won the We Care award for playing a pivotal role in supporting the lives of their locals, including raising £2,000 to provide free Christmas Day meals to those who were struggling. The overall Team of the Year award was voted for on the night by Greene King employees and the prize went to the Chef & Brewer team, who were nominated for their amazing work when pubs were able to reopen last year.
Nick Mackenzie, CEO of Greene King, said: “2020 was a really tough year but we wanted to recognise our teams and individuals for their outstanding examples of commitment and brilliance. We’ve seen incredible stories all around the business of our teams doing really great things in their communities during lockdown and felt it was important to celebrate some of the amazing things that happened during an extraordinary year.
“Even though we are currently in lockdown, we were determined to make the awards a great night to remember and give our team members a night ‘out’. It was great to see so many of our people dressed up for the occasion and celebrating virtually with their teams. We really have the best people in the industry, and I want to congratulate the finalists and winners for their honorable achievements.”
Greene King pubs, restaurants and hotels have been closed for much of 2020 following the onset of Covid-19, and when opened they were subject to heavy restrictions. The awards celebrate some of the great achievements within Greene King’s pubs, brewing and support centres, despite the challenges the year has thrown at the industry.
All of Greene King’s 40,000 team members were invited to the virtual event.
The awards and winners:
Customer First
Individual award – Natasha Smith, General Manager at Fortescue, Plymouth
Team award – IT Service Desk stars (Adam Lawrence and Rob Whymark)
Freedom to Succeed
Individual award – Colin Rawson, General Manager at Old Schoolhouse, Glasgow
Team award – B&B Supply Chain and Warehouse team
We Care
Individual award – Debbie Sabatino, Team Leader, Old Cobblers Inn, Rawtenstall
Team award – Kings Arms team, Bagshot
We Take Ownership
Individual award – Cheryl Donlan, Assistant Manager at Coppice Wood Farm, Urmston
Team award – Payroll team
Win, Learn, Celebrate Together
Individual award – Andrea Greenwood, Operations Manager, Locals South
Team award – Pub Partners Credit Control Team
Team of the Year
Chef & Brewer Team
Outstanding Contribution
Strategic Finance Team
Happiness Award
Ross Baxter, Senior Human Resources Business Partner