Proud Lincolnshire and Rutland pubs aim to become toast of the county after national award nominations
Six popular pubs are hoping they can become the toast of their county - and beyond.
Three hostelries from Lincolnshire and three from Rutland have been shortlisted in The National Pub and Bar Awards 2025.
The Red Lion Hotel in Spalding, The Royal Oak Inn in Louth and Lincoln’s The Strait and Narrow have made the shortlist for the Lincolnshire section.
Across the border in Rutland, the three hopefuls are The Admiral Hornblower in Oakham, North Luffenham’s The Fox, plus Clipsham’s The Olive Branch Country Inn.
“It must mean we’re doing something right,” joked Kirsty Berry, general manager at the Red Lion.
“It’s nice to be nominated. We’re trying to do more and get more clients in so to be nominated hopefully means that’s getting recognised.
“We’ve had a lot of nice comments from people saying it’s well deserved, which is great to hear.”
The locals at The Fox have also been passing on their congratulations.
“We’re very excited and overwhelmed to be in the final,” said operations manager Richard Page, who will be attending this summer’s event.
“We’re very excited. We have no idea who nominated us.
“We do get a lot of good reviews on TripAdvisor, but it’s a big shock for us and has given the staff a boost - it’s nice to have the hard work recognised.”
The Olive Branch was recently named in the Good Food Guide’s 50 best Sunday roasts in Britain.
“We’re seen as quite restauranty, so to be nominated for the Pub and Bar Awards is really nice for us as we still try very hard to maintain that village pub atmosphere, which is really important to us,” said owner Ben Jones.
“It’s very nice to be recognised as a great pub alongside a few other brilliant establishments, there’s lots of us in Rutland.
“It’s lovely to be seen as one of the best in the area. It’s very nice for the whole team.”
More than 250 pubs and bars across the UK have been shortlisted for the awards, with all of the county winners announced in London on June 24.
“The aim of the National Pub & Bar Awards is simple,” says Tristan O’Hana, editor of Pub & Bar magazine, which runs the event.
“We want to showcase how brilliant these businesses are and how valuable pubs and bars are to fabric of society across the whole of the UK.
“It has never been harder in hospitality. Whether it’s a countryside pub with rooms or a city centre bar showing live sport, these operations deserve widespread recognition and more customers – hopefully the National Pub & Bar Awards can help with both.”
The awards look at a number of elements that affect the customer journey, including marketing, digital presence, design, service, style of offer and investment. The venues now have over two months in which to trade off their achievement, before making their way to the National Pub & Bar Awards grand final in June.
Held at Big Penny Social in London, the final will welcome all 256 nominees to come together and celebrate their success, before discovering which venues will go on to become County and Regional Winners.
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The awards night will also crown the Pub Group of the Year, Bar Group of the Year, The Tyrrells Tyrrellbly Good Taste Award – presented by the event’s headline sponsor – and, ultimately, the overall National Pub & Bar of the Year.
On top of that, the 2025 event will launch the Top 10 Pubs & Bars in the UK list, which has been voted for by hundreds of operators from across the country.
The National Pub & Bar Awards 2025 is sponsored by Tyrrells, Booker, Cawston Press, ICRTouch, Randall Parker Food Group, Sky Business and Strongbow.
