Local Pub Wins the Nation's Food Pub of the Year!

A local traditional country pub near Leamington Spa has won the industry’s most coveted prize, just 12 months since being launched by two young entrepreneurs.

The Stag at Offchurch run and managed by Nigel Brown and Charles Harris, both protégés of Raymond Blanc, has won the Publican’s national Best Food Pub of the Year Award. The accolade is even more remarkable as the youngsters took the brave decision to launch their first venture during the height of a recession, and at a time when over 100 pubs were closing down every week through lack of trade.

Nigel, Charles, and their enthusiastic team from The Stag, who have a combined average age of 30 years, were presented with the Best Food Pub of the Year Award by The Publican magazine at a celebration dinner hosted by comedian Michael McIntyre at the Grosvenor House in London last week, and are still in awe of their phenomenal achievement and recognition.

Commenting Nigel Brown, head chef at The Stag said: “To win such a prized award so soon, is just incredible and we are just thrilled beyond belief to gain such highly acclaimed industry recognition within such a short time since launching our first venture. It’s like an amazing dream which has just come true. We pride ourselves on providing fabulous food at seriously good value with fantastic service in a great environment, and we have exceeded all our expectations.

Charles Harris, general manager added: “This has only been achieved by having such a hard working and committed team, and our thanks go to all of them and of course to the villagers of Offchurch, and our customers who have continued to support us since we launched and became a vital part of the local community.”

Their unique success reflects hours of total dedication, working 24/7 to develop a reputation as a destination pub, that’s located off the beaten track, for seriously good food at realistically affordable prices. But to achieve all this, by such a young team, in an industry that has suffered at the hands of the recession is genuinely remarkable, and is what impressed and took the judges by surprise.

According to the Publican, The Stag provided a new dimension to this year’s award. The judging panel said The Stag was a worthy winner and commented: “These two entrepreneurial young operators had turned around this country pub of great to good value premium offer where the customer is King. Locally sourced produce is the order of the day with an outstanding overall offer.”