Popular Kettering village pub announced as national finalists for two prestigious awards
A Northamptonshire pub company is celebrating after another of its venues, The Red Lion in Cranford, was announced as UK finalists in industry-leading pub awards.
Cranford’s The Red Lion, part of the Greedy Gordons pub chain, has beaten more than a thousand pubs UK-wide to be announced as finalists in two esteemed national awards.
The venue is hoping to win the title of Punch Pub of the Year in the Great British Pub Awards and also triumph in the Punch Publican of the Year category at the Punch Pubs & Co Awards after securing success as regional winners.
Managing director at Greedy Gordons, Richard Gordon, who runs the business with Sonya Harvey, said: “We are delighted to announce our venue The Red Lion in Cranford was named Regional Winner in the Punch Publican of the Year category for our ‘outstanding performance and fantastic work running an epic pub business.’
"The news came out of the blue, Sonya and I were just blown away.”
The team triumphed in the regional rounds and the celebrations have continued after being announced as national finalists in Punch Publican of the Year award category. They will attend a the awards ceremony being staged in September.
The Red Lion has also been announced as a national finalist in the Punch Pub of the Year award category in the Great British Pub Awards 2024.
Richard added: “As there are more than 1,200 Punch pubs in the UK, to be announced as national finalists is another amazing achievement. While Sonya and I are the licensees, these accolades are very much recognition for our wider team, who do the day to day running under our guidance.
"It makes the blood, sweat and tears all worth it and demonstrates that people very much like what we are doing.”
News of the latest award success comes after Greedy Gordons recently celebrated another one of its popular pubs, The Snooty Fox in Lowick, being announced as a finalist in the Best Country Pub award category of the Great British Pub Awards.
With both awards ceremonies taking place in September, the Greedy Gordons team hope to secure a hospitality hat trick and win all three separate awards.
Two Greedy Gordons venues – The Snooty Fox and The Buttery café in Woodford – were recently included in the 20 Must-Visit Restaurants in Northamptonshire Forbes feature, which was published this month.
Richard said: “It is an incredible honour that two of our three Greedy Gordon pubs have fought off competition from across the UK to be named as finalists in both the esteemed Great British Pub Awards and the prestigious Punch Pubs & Co Awards, which are considered the ‘Oscars’ of the pub industry.
"We are thrilled to receive such recognition, which is testament to the tremendous team at our venues who work so hard and ensure all our guests have an excellent experience when dining at all our pubs.”
The Greedy Gordons portfolio of venues includes The Red Lion in Cranford, The Snooty Fox in Lowick, The Pig & Waffle in Grafton Underwood, The Buttery Café and The Greedy Gordons Farm Shop in Woodford.