The Red Lion, in Barnes, London, has been named as the winner of Fuller’s Griffin Trophy, the company’s pub of the year.
Left to right: Claire Morgan and Angus McKean, of the Red Lion, Barnes, winners of the Griffin Trophy, and Joe Glover and Kevin Dursley, inaugural winners of Fuller’s publican of the year competition
The competition is open to all of Fuller’s 194 managed pubs and hotels. The winner takes the iconic trophy itself as well as a £5,000 holiday voucher and money for a staff party.
The competition recognises outstanding business success and is awarded to the pub or hotel that best reflects Fuller’s strategy, values, and purpose of creating experiences that nourish the soul.
The Red Lion is a true Barnes institution and has been run by general managers Angus Mckean and Claire Morgan for the last 22 years. They have never stood still, constantly evolving the business, developing and inspiring amazing team members, delighting their customers, and really making their pub famous in the local area and beyond.
Over a busy summer, the pub has played host to football World Cup matches and Shakespeare in the Garden. The Red Lion avoids gimmicks, but looks to develop long-standing events such as its famous Thanksgiving Day event. This welcomes cousins from across the pond who live in the area and are looking for a piece of home.
Angus and Claire are not just brilliant at executing events, they know how to promote them, too. They are experts in using social media to spread the word to entice new and returning customers.
“The secret to Angus and Claire’s success is that they never stand still,” said Simon Emeny, Fuller’s executive chairman. “They are always asking what’s next, creating new reasons to visit, improving the customer experience, and continually keeping The Red Lion at the heart of the Barnes community.
“This year, we saw the development of their wonderful garden, which played host to some amazing outdoor screenings of matches during the football World Cup. But this is not just a garden for sport, and the addition of a beautiful Italian-style pergola — which has been lovingly maintained by Angus — ensures that this is a garden which, like the pub, is for everyone and has that amazing chameleon-like ability to suit every occasion perfectly.
“Angus and Claire are quite simply the best of hosts and I am delighted to see them collect this award for the second time in their tenure at the pub. If you’ve never been to The Red Lion in Barnes, you haven’t lived!”
Claire Morgan said: “I am so delighted to see the Griffin Trophy coming back to Barnes again. Every year we look at what we can do differently to make that incremental change to our business that keep us top of mind. It’s easy to take your locals for granted and we never want to do that, so Angus and I are always looking at what we can do to keep the pub fresh, interesting, inviting and relevant.”
Angus added: “Claire and I are a great partnership, both personally and professionally, but this award is not just down to us. We have an amazing, and in many cases long-standing team that work with us, delivering our vision for The Red Lion. They play a key role in our success, and I can’t wait to celebrate this fantastic victory with them.”
Meanwhile, Joe Glover and Kevin Dursley, tenants at The Chequers, in Chipping Norton, were crowned as Fuller’s inaugural publican of the year champions.
As well as being financially successful, Joe and Kevin have focused on making The Chequers a real heart of the Chipping Norton community. They have built a far-reaching reputation for being a place that is welcoming to all and that puts its customers first.
They take great pride in working with local suppliers and believe that neighbourhood integration is one of the elements that keeps the pub relevant and busy. They make excellent use of social media, and their hard work is clearly rewarded.
