Steve Wilkins, managing director, Lewis & Clarke
It was a unanimous decision by the judging panel to award the 2003 Pub Industry Award to Steve Wilkins, managing director of Lewis & Clarke, and the driving force behind the Lewis & Clarke pubs - including the Last in Shoe Lane, the Prophet in Worship Street and the Nudge in New Oxford Street.
With all five pubs in the group, Wilkins has created venues combining good food and drink with an unbeatable atmosphere which attracts both business-lunch trade and night-time revellers. Each pub has a different style, but each transcends daytime and evening custom to create a multipurpose venue.
Since leaving Whitbread, where he worked on the Henry's Bar and Country Club Hotels brands and as TGI Friday's operations director, Wilkins has become one of the foremost innovators in the pub sector. As the force behind three of London's gastropub groups - Smith & Jones, Thomas & Carter, and now Lewis & Clarke - his expertise in food-based pub brands is indisputable.
The judging panel agreed that he is a person who gives people what they want, and continue to want. "Yet he always leaves that little bit of 'blue sky' for the next entrepreneur to develop and to make the place their own, always leaving room for a new personality to be engraved on his premises," commented judge Roger Narbett, proprietor of the Bell & Cross.
They praised Wilkins for having the insight and enthusiasm to bring new values to the old-fashioned English pub market. "His vision and innovation have brought about a transformation in the way pubs are perceived and used by the public," said one. "He has breathed new life into venues that may otherwise have fallen by the wayside."
Judge Tony Hughes, managing director of Mitchells & Butlers, said Wilkins was "at the cutting edge of the pub industry", and someone who set the agenda that other pub operators often followed. "Not only is he an inspirational, innovative, creative guy, but more importantly, he knows how to make money," said Hughes. "He has entered a hard market in the middle of London and achieved the utmost from difficult beginnings.
"What Steve does, he does with quality, he's brilliant at the basics. The food, drink and service is of the highest quality. I admire what he does and how he achieves his goals."
Bob Ivell, chairman and managing director of Scottish & Newcastle Retail, and last year's Pub Industry Award winner, also praised Wilkins's contribution to the pub market. "There's often the view in the pub sector that it's the big boys that run away with the best ideas, locations and awards. But Steve Wilkins proves that wrong," said Ivell.
"The food and service in all his establishments are excellent, and he has delivered on more than one occasion. It's time he was recognised for being an outstanding force."
Judges
NICK BISH Chief executive, Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers
TONY HUGHES Managing director - restaurants, Mitchells & Butlers
BOB IVELL Chairman and managing director, Scottish & Newcastle Retail
ROGER NARBETT Proprietor, the Chequers, near Droitwich, Worcestershire
DENIS WATKINS Director, Angel at Hetton Partnership
Previous Winners:
2002 Bob Ivell
2001 Tony Hughes
2000 Tim Martin
1999 Tony Carson
1998 Peter Salussolia
1997 Peter Dickson
1996 John Bright
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