Burton Green pub and restaurant wins national award

The team at Hickory’s Smokehouse and bar, which is in Cromwell Lane, are celebrating after beating more than 1,000 pubs and bars around the UK to win a national award. Bar and restaurant staff were selected as the winner for the Best Trained Staff category. The awards, which are run by Heineken-owned Star Pubs & Bars, were presented at a ceremony at the Imperial War Museum in Manchester on Thursday, November 15. The winner for the Best Trained Staff category in the awards was selected by an expert in hospitality training. Hickory’s Smokehouse took over the former pub in 2015 and transformed it into a bar and smokehouse with a major refurbishment. The judges noted how Hickory’s staff had helped to quickly establish the bar as the village’s local and the restaurant as a destination smokehouse. They were also impressed by the training staff receive, which includes trips abroad to enable staff to bring back and replicate an authentic American smokehouse experience in Burton Green. Judges also noted how, in addition to 25 of the Burton Green team travelling to America and Europe in 2017, they had received a range of training from NVQs and Modern Apprenticeships in mentoring and management development. Katie Austwick, manager in training at Hickory’s Smokehouse, said: “We are all absolutely thrilled with this award. “I can say from first hand experience that the training we receive is second to none and we are lucky enough to be able to continue to develop our skills as we progress. “The team works really hard to put all the magnificent training into practice so it’s a fabulous accolade to them and their service too.” Lawson Mountstevens, managing director at Star Pubs & Bars said: “The investment in training shines through at Hickory’s Smokehouse. Staff go out of their way to make sure customers have a great time and nothing is too much trouble. “They don’t just provide the warmest of welcomes, they deliver a real taste of the Deep South to Burton Green too, whether it’s smoking the meat, making BBQ sauces or shaking cocktails.”