Springboard Awards winners revealed

The River Cottage Chefs' School and the Crieff Hydro Hotel were both double winners at this year's Springboard Awards for Excellence.

The charity's awards were presented at the Novotel London West on Friday evening.

"After a record number of entries, the judges were set a tough task, not only to go through the sheer volume of entries, but the standard of the entries were of the highest quality," said Anne Pierce, Springboard CEO. "What a fantastic night of celebration to reward people, organisations and projects that work to raise the profile of the hospitality sector and to attract and retain talent to this great industry."

The Winners:

Winner: Joel Fagg (The Puma Hotels’ Collection)

The Best Regional Initiative Award Winner: Inspired Change Limited

The New Media Award â€" sponsored by drp Group Winner: River Cottage Chefs’ School,

The Education Pipeline Award Winner: Apex Hotels Ltd

Best Student Placement Provider â€" sponsored by James Hallam Winner: The Red Carnation Hotel Collection

Best Recruitment Initiative â€" sponsored by Caterer.com Winner: River Cottage Chefs’ School

The Young People Award â€" sponsored by American Express Winner: The Geoffrey Harrison Foundation

The People Innovation Award â€" sponsored by LaunchPad Recruits Winner: Crieff Hydro Limited

Best Chef Strategy â€" sponsored by HandPicked Hotels Winner: Hilton Worldwide

Best Management Strategy â€" sponsored by LifeTime Winner: Crieff Hydro Limited

Best Food & Beverage Strategy Winner: Park Plaza County Hall

The Diversity In Employment Award â€" sponsored by Dunleavy White Winner: Talkington Bates

Best Career Progression Award â€" sponsored by LCBT Winner: Arora Hotel Heathrow

The Retention Award â€" sponsored by Axminster Winner: London Marriott Hotel Marble Arch

The Corporate Responsibility Award â€" sponsored by BonaSystems Winner: The Brookwood Partnership Limited,

Best Employer Award â€" Charnwood Training Winner: Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons,Â

The very special Chris Beaumont Special Award â€" sponsored by 3663 James Thomson OBE

Chris Griffiths, head of education, River Cottage Chefs’ School said: “This is a real privilege for us. We’ve only been formed for a year, but delighted to be already making a difference to the youth and unemployed of the South West. We’re all huge advocates of Springboard, so this award is a real honour for the team."

Stephen Clayton, GM, Arora Hotel Heathrow added: “Amazed to be shortlisted, astonished to be a winner.”

James Thomson said: “ I feel very humble to be recognised by my peers. This is such a room full of talent and to be part of something that celebrates such a great industry is fantastic”.