Admiral Taverns Wins ‘Best Recruitment Strategy’ at the 2025 National Innovation in Training Awards

Admiral Taverns, the UK’s leading community pub group with c 1,350 pubs across England, Scotland and Wales, is pleased to announce that the Group has been awarded the ‘Best Recruitment Strategy’ at the British Institute of Innkeeping’s 2025 National Innovation in Training Awards (NITAs). The Awards took place on Thursday 20^th November at Porchester Hall in London.

This year’s NITAs brought over 300 industry professionals together to celebrate those who go the extra mile to champion innovation, training, development, sustainability and wellbeing within their teams to ensure pubs and hospitality venues can sit at the heart of their communities for generations to come.

Ceri Radford, Head of Recruitment, commented: “We are absolutely thrilled to have been awarded ‘Best Recruitment Strategy’ at this year’s NITAs – it truly stands testament to the team’s incredible hard work and our unique people-first approach.

At Admiral, we are committed to finding great people to run our pubs to ensure that they can continue serving and supporting their communities, so it’s absolutely essential to match the right individual with the right pub and we take great pride in doing just that. Over the years, we have worked really hard to build an industry-leading recruitment process that puts the applicant first and provides an accessible, simple and personalised experience that ensures the best possible outcome for both the individual and Admiral.

I am extremely proud of this achievement and I’d like to take the opportunity to thank my fantastic team for everything they do, day in and day out, in making sure we continue to find the very best talent for our community pubs.”

Earlier this year, Admiral launched its brand-new, user-friendly ‘Applicant Portal’ to transform the recruitment process and make it easier than ever to connect the right person with the right pub. Designed specifically for new applicants as they embark on the journey of taking on a pub, the portal simplifies the recruitment process from start to finish. From 24/7 access to the applicant portal,  tailored pub matching and real time application updates to regular contact between the applicant and their dedicated recruitment executive, exceptional Business Development Manager support and comprehensive training resources, the portal guarantees optimum communication and efficiency.

Since the launch of the portal, Admiral has received more than 2,400 signups, and over the last year, a 5% increase in recruitment enquiries.

Following the recruitment process, Admiral Taverns offers all its publicans extensive expertise and support to help maximise a pub’s potential, from operations and marketing, to property and training. It’s comprehensive, highly proactive approach to licensee training has earnt the Group top spot in this year’s the annual independent licensee sentiment tracker for the UK’s leased and tenanted pub sector, with publicans voting the pub company ‘partner of choice’, with Admiral scoring 7.5/10 on its staff and training capabilities. 

ENDS

Notes To Editors: 

Admiral Taverns (“Admiral”) is the UK’s number one community pub group. Headquartered in Chester; the Group operates a national estate of c.1,350 predominantly wet-led community pubs. Admiral’s unique operational approach has earnt industry recognition with the Group winning Best Community Pub

Operator at the 2024 Publican Awards, whilst also being shortlisted for Best Partnership Pub Company (501+ Sites). In 2019, 2016 and 2013, Admiral Taverns won Best Leased and Tenanted Pub Company at the Publican Awards and ranked highly commended as Best Community Pub Operator in 2017. The Group has also been consistently highly rated by licensees in the industry’s independent annual Tenant Track survey, exceeding the scores of all its national peers.   

Media Enquiries: 

Houston 

India Spencer/Sarah Patton

E: admiral@houston.co.uk

T: +44 (0) 204 529 0549

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