This year's British Hospitality Awards, which honour those who have delivered outstanding service to the hospitality and tourism industry, were presented by the British Hospitality Association (BHA) at its annual lunch at the Hilton hotel on Park Lane, London.
Bob Cotton, chief executive of the BHA, presented the 2003 awards to those highlighted as having set examples to follow.
The winners included David Gemmell, chairman of Hull City Council's tourism committee, and Colin Brown, chief executive of the city's aquarium, the Deep, for creating the £45m project, which now employs 130 people.
Alain Thibault was recognised, with Harry and Peter Mogford, for the performance of Concord Hotels, a training consortium he founded in 1968. Concord has a maximum membership of 18 hotels at any time and recruits 40 trainees each year, giving them experience at operational level. Now retired, Thibault oversaw the training of some 1,000 recruits while with the organisation.