Harrogate’s hospitality heroes were rewarded for their excellence and commitment on Monday night (2 June 2025) during a gala dinner to celebrate the best the town has to offer at Harrogate’s Royal Hall.
This year was the seventeenth year of the sell-out awards evening, which is organised by the Harrogate Hospitality & Tourism Association (HHTA), and host Simon Cotton was joined by the General Managers from the member Harrogate hotels from HHTA, along with the sponsors, to present the coveted award categories.
The Black-Tie event carries a light theme each year and guests are always kept in suspense about what it will be for the night. This year’s theme was a take on ‘Around the World in 80 days’ but taking the audience Around the world in 80 minutes! This was to reflect that the hospitality industry is made up of a huge international workforce and to celebrate what a global community it is. Joining Simon for the show this year was well known hotelier from Rudding Park, Peter Banks, as the two of them entertained the buzzing audience with themed food, dance, music and fun and games. Simon said, “I love running these awards as I see how much they mean to everyone in Harrogate involved in the Hospitality sector. Simon and Peter introduced the night via a video of them taking a train to India and other clips through the evening saw them riding a bike to China, taking a hot air balloon to America and finally a boat back to the UK. Between enjoying a first class themed 4 course meal, the audience were entertained by dancers including a Chinese Lion dance, Bollywood style dancers and American Cheerleaders with New York Brass Band.
The Harrogate Hospitality and Tourism Awards aim to promote the town’s hospitality offering through celebrating and rewarding those individuals who show the highest levels of commitment and strive towards excellence on the town’s behalf.
During February and March members of the public and visitors to Harrogate were invited to nominate individuals who they thought deserved special recognition and helped generate over 1000 nominations before a shortlist was chosen by the category sponsors who judge the awards.
Simon said:
The awards reward not only the winners, but all those who are shortlisted and work in every area of hospitality, recognising the effort and commitment they make on a daily basis. Once again we received a huge volume of entries this year to test the judging panel and I’d like to thank everyone for supporting and getting involved. We have been able to reward some very worthy winners. The hospitality sector is so important to this town’s economy and it is wonderful to see the crème de la crème of their category being acclaimed for their efforts; both those shortlisted and those who won deserve their ‘moment’ in the spotlight and it was great to see everyone celebrating tonight!
What could be described as the most prestigious award of the night, the Harrogate Ambassador of the Year was won by Fiona Movley.
A well known personality for many years in Harrogate, Fiona has most recently been Chair of Harrogate International Festivals and helps to promote Harrogate in numerous ways to bring in thousands of visitors each year to the many fantastic events the Festivals put on. However Fiona has also played a pivotal in Harrogate in many organisations including the Great Yorkshire Showground amongst others and it was a fitting tribute to her many years of hard work to be this year’s Harrogate Ambassador to celebrate her professionalism and hard work.
This year’s Award winners are;
Waiter/Waitress of the Year – sponsored by Harrogate Spring Water
Ashleigh Stubbs – The Mucky Duck
Bar Person of the Year – sponsored by Matthew Clark
Franklin Bouckley – Rhubarb Restaurant
Chef of the Year – sponsored by Sykes House Farm
Csaba Klimo – Pickled Sprout
Team of the Year – sponsored by Platinum
Sasso Restaurant
Newcomer of the Year – sponsored by Harrogate College
Illam Restaurant
Unsung Hero – sponsored by Bidfood
Alan Huddart – Harrogate Pub Watch
Outstanding Customer Service – sponsored by Slingsby
Lindsey Oldman-Alexander – Weetons
Restaurant of the Year – sponsored by Guinness
The Pickled Sprout
Bar of the Year – sponsored by Timothy Taylor’s
Hidden Lounge
Receptionist of the Year – sponsored by Harrogate Christmas & Gift
Lily Allen – Majestic Hotel
Housekeeper of the Year – sponsored by Beaucare
Sharon Thackray – The Bluebell
Harrogate Ambassador – sponsored by Your Harrogate Radio
Fiona Movley – Harrogate International Festivals
With 12 member hotels, the HHTA welcomes over 300,000 guests each year and collectively employs over 1000 members of staff. The Association has been in existence for many years with the enduring goal of promoting Harrogate as a destination, working in close partnership with the Harrogate Convention Centre and the Yorkshire Event Centre to promote conferences and local businesses for leisure breaks. Members work together and with other tourism-led businesses in order to promote high standards within the industry and the town.
