THE annual NRB Top 50 big-swingers were announced yesterday at the Northern Restaurant and Bar Show 2015 at Manchester Central (17-18 March) - LIVE coverage here.
“The North seems to be flavour of the month amongst national and international operators"
The powerlist celebrates the best and brightest hospitality operators including chefs, restaurant owners, publicans, hoteliers and bar owners across the North West, North East, Yorkshire and the Humber.
Amongst the winners this year were Tim Bacon and Jeremy Roberts of Living Ventures (Manchester House, Artisan), Beau Myers and Marie Carter of Beautiful Drinks (Almost Famous, Home Sweet Home), Haz and Sax Arshad of Mughli, Carlo and Marcello Distefano of the San Carlo Group and Mike Magrane and Simon Rogan of The Midland Hotel and The French.
This year also saw special achievement nods to four veterans of the industry: Nigel Haworth and Craig Bancroft of Lancashire's Michelin-starred Northcote; William Lees Jones of Manchester's 187-year old JW Lees brewery which operates nearly 200 pubs across the North; and Jonathan Slater of the Chester Grosvenor, who will retire after more than three decades of service at the five star hotel.
The NRB's most influential awards follow the buoyant news that over the last decade, Manchester has posted the UK's highest percentage of growth (57%) in the food and drink sector, beating London (32%) and Liverpool (31%) by over 25% - read more about it here.
Better still, 90% of the Top 50 (listed in full below) are planning to expand their businesses across the region. No signs of slowing then.
Chef Simon Rogan was amongst the Top 50
Thom Hetherington, CEO of NRB, said: “We received a record number of entrants to the NRB Top 50 this year, making judging an incredibly difficult process.
“The North seems to be flavour of the month amongst national and international operators at the moment, but we feel it is fundamentally important that we recognise those home-grown operators who are achieving huge levels of critical acclaim and commercial success and driving employment, training and investment in the region. Not least amongst those are our three special award winners.”
Complete NRB Top 50 2015 Powerlist (listed alphabetically not in any order):
Martin Ainscough, Owner, Ainscoughs
Mark Andrew, Owner, Mark Andrew Developments
Sax Arshad, Director, Mughli
Haz Arshad, Director, Mughli
Paul Askew, Chef Patron, The Art School
Mohammed Aslam, Owner, Aagrah Group
Tim Bacon, CEO, Living Ventures
Jeremy Roberts, Director, Living Ventures
Craig Bancroft, Managing Director, Northcote
Nigel Haworth, Chef Patron, Northcote
Ken Buckley, Managing Director, Bravo Inns
Marie Carter, Owner, Beautiful Drinks
Beau Myers, Owner, Beautiful Drinks
Sue Crimes, Chief Executive Officer, Gusto
Morgan Davies, Founder, Barburrito
Jimmy Del Giudice, Operations Director, Revolution Bars Group Plc
Mark Mcquater, CEO, Revolution Bars Group Plc
Carlo Distefano, Chairman, San Carlo Group
Marcello Distefano, Managing Director, San Carlo Group
James Douglas, Co-Owner, Reds True Bbq
Scott Munro, Co-Owner, Reds True Bbq
Sue Crimes: Queen of GustoRoy Ellis, Director, Flying Pig & Lobster
Neil Macleod, Director, Flying Pig & Lobster
Simon Rimmer, Chef Patron, Flying Pig & Lobster
Mal Evans, Owner, Mojo
Cleo Farman, Owner, Odd Bar
Ged Feltham, Managing Director, Leelex
Jobe Ferguson, Co-Director, Black Dog / The Liars Club Group
Ross McKenzie, Co-Director, Black Dog / The Liars Club Group
Duncan Fisher, Owner, The Apartment Group
Kevin Georgel, CEO, Admiral Taverns
Lyndon Higginson, Co-Director, The Liars Club Group
James Hitchen, Managing Director, Neighbourhood / Southern 11
Karina Jadhav, Director, Neighbourhood / Southern 11
Chris Hopkins, Managing Director, Hydes Brewery
Terry Laybourne, Chef Patron, 21 Hospitality Group
William Lees Jones, Managing Director, JW Lees
Mike Magrane, General Manager, The Midland
Colin Manning, Managing Partner, 60 Hope Street
Gary Manning, Chef Patron, 60 Hope Street
Tomas Maunier, Director, Fazenda Rodizio Bar & Grill
Robert Melman, Director, Fazenda Rodizio Bar & Grill
James Mackenzie, Chef Patron, Pipe And Glass
Stephen Miles, General Manager, Radisson Blu Edwardian Manchester
David Mooney, Co-Owner, New Moon Co
Paul Newman, Co-Owner, New Moon Co
Joycelyn Neve, Managing Director, Seafood Pub Company
Eamonn O’Loughlin, Owner, Eclectic Hotels
Si Ord, Owner, Sandinista
Andrew Pern, Chef Patron, The Star At Harome / Star Inn The City
Steve Pilling, Director, Damson Group
Simon Stanley, Director, Damson Group
Jonathan Poole, Director, Red And Blue
Paddy Smith, Director, Red And Blue
Oliver Robinson , Managing Director, Frederic Robinson
Simon Rogan, Chef Patron, L’enclume
Jonathan Slater, General Manager, The Chester Grosvenor
Richard Smith, Chef Patron, Brewkitchen
Martin Stead, Co-Owner, The Thai Restaurant Group
Kim Stead, Co-Owner, The Thai Restaurant Group
Martin Wolstencroft, Managing Director, Arc Inspirations
Chris Ure, Owner, Arc Inspirations
Steven Walker, CEO, Individual Restaurants
Jonathan Ward, Director,The House Of Adventure Group
Roger Ward, Owner, The Victorian Chophouse Company
Joel Wilkinson, Owner, Trof
Marc Wilkinson, Chef Patron, Restaurant Fraiche
Stewart Yip, Owner, Red Chilli
