Dinenage confirms winners of Best Pub competition
By Linden Grigg
GOSPORT MP, Dame Caroline Dinenage, has announced the winner of her inaugural Best Pub competition as The Windsor Castle in Hardway; thus ending an intense voting battle involving several establishments across the borough over recent weeks.
The pub on Grove Road came out on top with a share of thirty-five percent and were crowned winners after two rounds of voting; which gained a total of over 2250 votes from local residents. Four runner ups were The Foresters Arms, the Old House at Home, The Jolly Roger, and The Junction Tavern.
Ms Dinenage had introduced the competition to show Gosport how local pubs are valued within the community following a punishing couple of years. The includes the Autumn Budget from Rachel Reeves that has lowered the threshold at which employers pay National Insurance whilst at the same time increasing the rate.
As widely reported, this has come in the wake of decreases to business rates relief and increases to minimum wages; all of which meaning pubs across the country are struggling with increased overheads from this month. Residents are further spending less money in hospitality due to rising bills and financial pressures.
The Gosport MP visited the winning venue to deliver the award and a bottle of House of Commons fizz to the pub’s owners. Kathy Williams, speaking on behalf of the Windsor Castle management team, stated:
“Winning this award has created such a positive and exciting vibe in the pub. The staff are all so proud of it, we are all proud of what we have achieved, and it makes all the hard work 7 days a week worthwhile.
She continued: “It’s only awards like this that bring the hospitality sector to the fore. We are displaying the award with pride, and all of our regular customers are so happy to have played a part in the Windsor Castle winning this accolade. We wish all the other pubs in Gosport best wishes and a prosperous year.”
Caroline said: “I wanted this competition to spotlight our brilliant pubs and their owners, and to recognise how much they do for our local economy and how valued they are to people in Gosport.
“We know it has been a tough few years for hospitality and tourism, with the sector at the epicentre of all the economic shocks that we’ve experienced, first with Covid, then energy costs due to the war in Ukraine, and now the Chancellor’s disastrous Budget which has made hiring prohibitively expensive and raised business rates.”
She concluded: “I loved meeting Kathy and Chris, and hearing how hard they and their team have worked to build their business around a popular live music offering. It was heart-warming to meet some of their regulars and understand how much local people appreciate The Windsor Castle as a cornerstone of their community.”
PICTURED BY DAME CAROLINE DINENAGE MEDIA: MP presents Gosport Best Pub competition award to Kathy and Chris; the owners of The Windsor Castle.
