A boss at pub company Mitchells & Butlers (M&B) has been named the Retailers’ Retailer, at an awards ceremony last week.

Tony Hughes, managing director of M&B’s pub restaurant division, was voted Best Individual at the Retailers’ Retailer of the Year awards, held at London’s Dorchester hotel.

The annual awards for excellence are organised by business information title M&C Report. They are peer-based, with senior executives from across the industry voting for eight category winners.

M&B was also voted Best Company and took Best Emerging Concept for its new country-pub format Project S.

Best Concept went jointly to Italian restaurant group Strada and noodle chain Wagamama.

Wagamama also scooped Deal of the Year for its £102.5m refinancing deal with Graphite Capital, and Investor of the Year was pub company Punch Taverns after its blockbuster £2.7b deal for Spirit Group last December.

Living Ventures took Turnaround Brand of the Year for breathing new life into Est Est Est, and Malmaison Oxford won Best New Venue.

In addition, the Rising Star award, from M&C itself, went to Henry Dimbleby and John Vincent who are the co-founders of Leon Restaurants.

By Chris Druce

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