Steph Bariana, landlord of The Eagle in Blyth, has received an Admiral Tavern Achievement Award for successfully transferring her party planning skills to her new pub.

Steph, who’s worked in party planning for many years, has used her experience to create a function-friendly pub that offers a full service package to anyone planning a special event.

She has hosted over 30 weddings in The Eagle’s two function rooms since arriving at the pub four months ago, and already has many other party events booked in for 2011.

If you’d like to build on your career skills and become an Admiral Taverns landlord, then contact our recruitment team. 

The latest recipients of Admiral Taverns’ Achievement awards – Martin Evans and his business partner Steve Morgan of the Hand & Dagger pub in Kirkham and Jamie O’Grady (below) of The Fighting Cocks in Kingston-upon-Thames - have shown that an innovative and creative approach to running a pub can pay dividends.

Martin and Steve have used their combined 38 years’ of experience in the catering industry to strengthen the pub’s food offering. Despite being at the pub for only four months, they’ve already seen a significant increase in profits.

Martin said: “We’ve overhauled the entire menu to offer a range of simple, home cooked food. We’ve also redecorated the pub throughout and made changes to the drinks menu to ensure we can offer customers everything they expect from a traditional country pub.”

Jamie, who has been at the Fighting Cocks for over 11 years, has focused on creating the perfect venue for rock music lovers. Customers can catch a live comedy act or band most nights of the week, play Guitar Hero for free at the bar, try their luck on the leopard print pool table or select a tune from the ‘Rock Box’ jukebox that’s jam packed with 10,000 hand picked songs.

Jamie said: “There’s been a pub on this site for over two centuries and, while we wanted to embrace its long history, we also wanted to bring it bang up to date by showcasing new and original talent.

“I’m lucky enough to have a fantastic team here and it’s the dedication of our staff plus the loyalty of our customers that has got us here. We’re all extremely proud of the pub and are really pleased to have received this award.”

Evelyn Mann of the Great Western in Gloucester – who has been in the pub trade for over 20 years - has become the latest landlord to receive our Achievement Award in recognition of her years of hard work.

Evelyn has been at the pub for 24 years, after following in her father’s footsteps to work in the pub trade.

The Great Western also recently won Best Pub Garden in the Gloucester In Bloom Awards 2010 – the third time that the pub has been recognised in the competition.

We’d like to congratulate Evelyn on her win; her continued commitment to the Great Western is admirable and just goes to show the type of lifelong job satisfaction that Admiral Taverns’ landlords can enjoy.

Budding landlords up and down the UK will be given the chance to discover what it takes to be part of the pub trade as Admiral Taverns hits the road for a series of open days throughout January and February.

The Admiral team will be visiting Maidstone, Bolton, London, Cardiff and Telford over the next couple of months.

Business Development Managers will be on hand to provide information about what support is available to both industry newcomers and people who already have pub experience.

For more information, visit the Events section of our website or contact Admiral Taverns’ recruitment team on 0845 070 8950.

Admiral Taverns' Carlos Wilson and his partner Sandra have been at the Battersea Bar for just under a year and the couple have transformed the pub into a vibrant live music destination that’s also known for its top quality food.

Carlos, who formerly ran his own takeaway, mans the kitchen at the pub, serving up tasty Caribbean food as well as a range of traditional English dishes.

The pub is also becoming increasingly popular due to the diverse range of entertainment on offer, which includes regular pool tournaments, open mic nights, Reggae and R&B club nights and barbeques.

For more information on the Battersea Bar, visit www.batterseabar.co.uk

If you’d like to find out more about how you can make a mark on your community as an Admiral Taverns landlord, contact out recruitment team. 

This year’s pool & darts championship has proved to be another huge success, with hundreds of teams from across the estate competing for the coveted titles. 

After a hard fought contest the Dunkirk Tavern in Derby was crowned champions of the pool competition and the Wyvern in Sheffield secured the darts title.

Both winning teams received £1,000 in prize money and a special trophy.

Paul Holmes, marketing communications manager for Admiral Taverns, said: “As always the pool & darts final was a fantastic event.  We had another great turnout and the standard of play was excellent.

“We’d encourage any pubs that have a pool or darts team to make sure they enter the competition and any who don’t should start one. It’s a great way to boost business.” Look out for the entry forms in the November edition of Agenda magazine. 

Two first-time landlords from the estate have been recognised for their outstanding work by receiving Admiral Taverns Achievement Awards.

Egil Johansen from the Kenton in Hackney and Tim Hartas from the Quarry Gap in Bradford have received their awards for turning around the fortunes of their pubs since taking them on.

Egil,who was also named Best Newcomer of the London region in the Morning Advertiser’s Great British Pub Awards 2010, received his accolades for his innovative approach to the pub.  He’s created a varied calendar of events including movie nights, pub quizzes, jumble sales and club nights, and the back room of the pub is given over to exhibits from upcoming artists. 

Egil said: “I like to put on a wide variety of different events to ensure there’s something for everyone and that our customers always have a great time when they visit the pub. 

“The pub has gone from strength to strength, and people seem to love the quirky décor and friendly atmosphere. I’ve also recently extended our beer garden, which has been really popular over the summer months.

“I’m very proud of the positive changes I’ve managed to make to the pub and am obviously delighted to have received these awards in recognition of my hard work.”

Tim, who runs the Quarry Gap with his wife and daughter, was originally a builder by trade but saw the pub as an opportunity for a new venture for the family.

He said: “We’ve had lots of positive feedback from our customers since we arrived and the Quarry Gap is now one of the busiest pubs in the area. 

“We’re very proud of the positive changes we’ve made to the pub and are delighted to have received this award."

If you think you've got what it tales to make a great landlord, visit our pubs to let section to find pubs available in your area.