Everards pub The Cradock Arms is the toast of the taps after winning the award for the UK’s best kept cellar.
The Knighton-based pub in Leicester was given the accolade of The Publican’s Morning Advertiser’s Great British Pub Awards Best Kept Cellar in the UK at a glittering awards night in London. The prestigious gong was collected by licensees Jonathan and Leah Wainwright at the awards ceremony held at the Hilton Hotel on Thursday 13 September.
The pub qualified for the finals after securing the title of Best Kept Cellar in the Midlands and Wales region earlier in the year. Winning the Midlands and Wales title and then the UK award represents a remarkable achievement for Jonathan and Leah Wainwright ,as
Jonathan Wainwright, licensee at The Cradock Arms, said: “We are absolutely delighted to have won. Going into the finals we thought that we were a bit of an underdog given the short time we had been in the industry, so it was a wonderful surprise when we heard our name called out.
The Great British Pub Awards are recognised as the Oscars of the industry, so to have won the top award with our first ever entry is just incredible.
“We have only being at the pub for eight months and the support from Everards Technical Services team has been great. Their ongoing training has really helped us get to grips with raising the standards of the cellar and the bar areas.
“A lot of credit has to go to them for helping develop our knowledge and laying down the foundations that enabled us to put in for the awards and ultimately win it.”
Stephen Gould, Everards Managing Director, said: “We are extremely proud that licensees at an Everards pub have been able to win this prestigious national award. It’s a great honour for them to be able to say The Cradock Arms has officially the best pub cellar in the UK.
“Jonathan and Leah have worked extremely hard and this accolade is a reflection of their dedication to serving only the highest quality beers at the pub. It’s wonderful that the hard work and effort they have put into maintaining the cellar to such impressively high standards has received its recognition with this award.”
The competition saw independent auditors from Innserve, working in conjunction with the awards organisers, inspect the Cradock’s cellar and bars, scoring it against rigorous criteria. The judging process looked at beer dispense lines, dates on barrels and temperature checks before arriving at
a final score.
