A taste of victory

Quality training and great customer care – the foundations for success at the award-winning Victoria Inns.

Mark Holden and Justin Barnett and their teams from the Victoria Inns Threemilestone and Roche have a lot to celebrate, having picked up top awards both locally and nationally for their training programmes designed to give young people successful starts in the hospitality business and for the quality of their customer care and service.

“It’s a great honour to be recognised for the hard work everyone at our pubs puts in…”

Not content with picking up Employer of the Year (SME) at the Cornwall Apprenticeship Awards last year, Mark and Justin were also voted Licensee Trainer of the Year at the prestigious British Institute of Innkeepers’ (BII) National Innovation in Training Awards (NITAs), praised by top industry judges for their ‘innovation in creating an individual programme and particularly on their personal style in coaching and motivation.’

Delighted to be picking up both awards with team members, Mark Holden says, “Obviously, this is a fantastic reward for all the hard work that our teams put in to make our training second to none in Cornwall, but to have our programmes recognised nationally is testament to the wider efforts we all make in conjunction with schools and colleges, especially Truro College for the service provided by their business team and the lecturers and support team in their hospitality department.” Rounding off what Mark calls a ‘perfect’ year for the business, 2018 has started off in a similar vein, with the quality of the customer care demonstrated by both teams rewarded by picking up Tenants of the Year at the prestigious St Austell Brewery Estate Awards in January.

Followed closely by acclaim from Truro & Penwith College by being voted Outstanding Apprentice Employer, Mark is happy to share his and Justin’s accolades with the entire teams, adding, “It’s a great honour to be recognised for the hard work everyone at our pubs puts in and it is a credit to our associates at both The Victoria Inn in Threemilestone and The Victoria Inn in Roche who are so individually and as a team motivated to developing each others’ skills and knowledge. 

“We have ten of our team undertaking different levels of apprenticeship training this year alongside the day to day operations and they are all excited by the educational challenges ahead of them. We are so very proud of what they have all achieved already.”