Carl Newey, Food Development Manager at Stonegate Group, has taken home the prestigious City Bar/Dining Award at the Menu Innovation and Development Awards (MIDAS) 2024.
The awards recognise and celebrate outstanding achievements in the foodservice industry, honouring creativity, innovation, and exceptional menu development.
Industry professionals gathered at the Eastside Rooms in Birmingham on March 7 2024 for the award ceremony where the winners in each of the 27 categories were decided by a team of mystery diners and judges.
Stonegate Group faced stiff competition from industry giants Brewdog and Mitchell & Butlers, however Carl’s commitment to innovation and quality secured his victory.
As a Food Development Manager, Carl’s key focus is to drive quality within his areas of development. He has been able to do this by working closely with Stonegate’s UK suppliers to develop award winning products, such as his Red Wine & Fennel sausages, which won the National Craft Butchers Gold Award, Great Taste Award with Carl also receiving recognition at the British Pie Awards.
Carl works across the Premium food formats, working closely with Head Chefs to coordinate menu training, culinary competitions and supports with the opening of new Stonegate pubs. Carl also works directly with suppliers to ensure he is sourcing fresh seasonal produce to give guests the best culinary experience. He keeps up to date with the constantly evolving market and pitches innovate dishes across each format.
Carl said: “I’m incredibly honoured to receive this prestigious award. Dedication to making sure we are constantly progressing and developing is so important to me, and I am so happy this has been recognised. I would like to thank the MIDAS Network for this recognition, and to our Stonegate teams, as well as our valued guests, for their support. I will continue to be committed to delivering exceptional dining experiences across the estate and thank everyone involved for the appreciation!”
The MIDAS winners, along with a representative from the category sponsor, will enjoy the MIDAS Network’s five-day research and insight tour of Miami in May 2024.
<ENDS>
NOTES TO EDITORS
About Stonegate Group
Stonegate Group is the largest pub company in the UK. Its portfolio is comprised of over 4,500 sites, split across managed, operator led and leased and tenanted businesses.
The managed pubs division, which employs just under 16,000 people, is split into Branded and Traditional pubs. Branded is comprised of: Slug & Lettuce, Popworld, Be At One and the Venues division. Traditional (unbranded) pubs are made up of: Proper Pubs, Pub & Dining and Social Pub & Kitchen.
To date, over 12,000 employees have engaged with the various training programmes Stonegate Group offer, with over 600 Deputy Managers across the estate having been promoted to management roles.
The leased and tenanted estate, Stonegate Pub Partners, is made up of over 3,000 diverse sites whilst operator led Craft Union is currently made up of over 500 community pubs.
The business is multi award-winning for the training and development of its people and business success including:
BII’s National Innovation in Training Awards (NITAs): HR Manager of the Year, multiple times; Best Apprenticeship Training Programme (ATOP). Best Managed Company for Training.
REBA Employee Wellbeing Awards – Best New Wellbeing Strategy (5000+ staff);
Publican Awards – Best Pub Employer (501+ employees) multiple times; Best Community Operator (Craft Union Pub Company) multiple times; Best Managed Pub Company multiple times.
Great British Pub Awards – Best LGBTQ+ operator multiple times; Best Sports Pub multiple times; Best Pub Garden, Best Entertainment; Best pub to watch sport; Community Mindfulness
Licensed Trade Charity Awards raising awareness through fundraising
UK Hospitality’s Dusk ‘til Dawn Late Night Awards Best Marketing and Promotions Award; Best Service & Team; Best late Night Operator
HR Excellence Awards: Best Learning and Development Strategy
HR Distinction Awards: Innovation for Digital & Social Media; People Development; Innovative Use of Technology
And awards for charity contribution including Licensed Trade Charity: Outstanding Corporate Contribution Award; APPBG PUBAID Corporate Charity Fundraiser Award
Contact: Hannah Leeland, hannahleeland@leisurepr.co.uk
Third-party news items that are posted on the Guild website’s news section come from press releases received by the Guild. These press releases are posted as they have been received and their publication on the Guild website is intended as an informational service provided to our members and website visitors. As such, the publication of a story from a third-party source is neither an endorsement of the content, nor its sender, by the Guild. For enquiries on any news item, please use the contact details that can be found at the bottom of each post.