BRIGG MAN'S PUB VOTED BEST IN YORKSHIRE AND EMPLOYS UK'S BEST BAR STAFF

Delighted Calvin, left, receiving the Star Award from famous footballer and Sky Sports pundit Chris Kamara

Many congratulations to Brigg educated Calvin Dow, whose pub in Skipton has been voted the best in Yorkshire and whose bar staff are  number one in the nation. 
What a fantastic double achievement!
Down at the Britannia Inn, in Wrawby Street, Brigg, proud mum Dawn, and Phil, must be over the moon.
Emmerdale TV soap stars and Chris Kamara, famous football pundit, were there to toast Calvin's success.

HERE ARE THE DETAILS...
Star Pubs & Bars leased pub, The Castle Inn in Skipton, was awarded Yorkshire Pub of the Year this week at the White Rose Awards the largest celebration of tourism excellence in the UK.  
Almost 1,000 people including celebrity guests from Emmerdale and stars of sport were treated to a festival-themed White Rose Awards.
Calvin Dow, who runs the Castle Inn, took on the lease in 2010 when he was only 23, making him the youngest landlord in Skipton.  In just one year, he turned around the pub’s fortunes from a loss making business into a vibrant welcoming pub appealing to locals and tourists alike. 
The judges commented: “Calvin Dow, owner of the Castle Pub in this bustling market town, is the driving force of this fine ‘local’.  His immense passion is evident in all aspects of the visitor experience.  This came through in both his entry and what our mystery shoppers found when they visited.   The report summed it up very succinctly: The Castle is an example of how to run a great Yorkshire pub and has the potential to be a beacon of Yorkshire pride from a visitor point of view.”
Calvin said of his award win: “I am thrilled that the hard work that has gone into making the Castle Inn the success it is today has been recognized with this White Rose Award.  I couldn’t be more delighted for myself, my team and the people of Skipton.”  

The Castle beat off competition from 1,100 other pubs to win the Best Bar Staff Award in a national competition run by Heineken owned Star Pubs & Bars.
Licensee Calvin  received the prestigious award on behalf of the Castle’s 25 bar staff at a gala celebration night in London from football legend and broadcaster Chris Kamara. 
The award was the second in two weeks for the Castle which won Yorkshire Pub of the Year in the White Rose Awards. 
The judges were bowled over by the “excellent” service at the Castle noticing how all the staff worked together as a team to deliver speedy, attentive service and yet provide a fun environment, finding time to chat and make customers smile even when the pub was busy. They were also impressed by how staff were always willing to go the extra mile for their customers and colleagues from taking lost tourists to places they wanted to visit in Skipton to volunteering for extra shifts to cover other team members and helping each out to get the job done. “Even the chef happily pulls pints for customers if the bar staff are busy,” noted the judges.
“Customers are treated like kings at the Castle thanks to the impressive team of bar staff. They are not just highly professional, their love of their jobs shines through creating a great atmosphere and helping to make the Castle the very special pub it is,” says Chris Jowsey, Star Pubs & Bars trading director. 
As the judges suspected the Castle’s outstanding team is no accident but is the top priority of award winning licensee Calvin Dow. Since taking on the pub four years ago Calvin has transformed the Castle from a backstreet boozer into a thriving traditional pub through investment, the introduction of food and a programme of staff training, incentives, performance reviews and nights out to ensure the pub has an outstanding team of staff. 
Calvin was just 23 and Skipton’s youngest licensee when he started at the Castle, a job he says he couldn’t have done without his bar team, “This is a fantastic acknowledgement of my bar staff. The Castle wouldn't be the Castle without them; they do whatever it takes to get the job done, come in early, leave late, pitch in with whatever needs doing and always with smiles on their faces. The day the Tour de France came through Skipton was the proudest day of my life; the team worked from 6am to midnight, refusing to take a break or go home because they all wanted to stick together as a team.”
Despite the award, Calvin isn’t resting on his laurels with plans to start on an extension of the Castle  in January 2015 to cater for the pub’s growing number of customers.