If you have enjoyed a meal and a pint at the Gloucester Old Spot on Kellaway Avenue recently, you have enjoyed the “great food, great service and a nice environment” that has helped the pub win the Stonegate Group Pub Partners Pub of the Year award for 2024.
Unknown to the pub staff, they had been nominated by someone at the Stonegate group. They then received an email to say they were one of the five pubs shortlisted and after being interviewed in person by one of the judges, they were announced as the winners.
Owner Amy Devenish, who took over the pub a decade ago, said: “It all came completely out of the blue and came at a really nice time for us.”
Winning the award coincided with the pub’s 10-year anniversary party held at the end of September, which was, as Amy noted, “the busiest day of the year, the sun shone and it was just amazing”. The ceremony in Manchester was “even more special as we were not expecting to win”.
Asked what it was that the judges were looking for, Amy said: “They consider things like sustainability, but they also ask us why we think we deserve the award, and we just told them that we did!”
Popular as a true community pub, it hosts a range of events including quizzes, live music and even wedding receptions. Amy says it is “100% the customers” that are her favourite thing about the pub. “They talk to you across the bar, they tell you about their life and hopefully you put a smile on their face.”.
Amy has just signed a new 10-year lease and says of plans for the next few years: “We want to increase the number of functions we hold – they are our bread and butter. We have just put up a marquee and want to add new floor, electrics, even a disco ball! We’re also about to have a meeting on holding pottery sessions. We want to become the pub of choice and attract people from different areas who can then go back and recommend us.”
With a new winter menu recently introduced, a warm welcome guaranteed and a real ‘local’ feel, the Gloucester Old Spot can now also boast ‘award-winning’ to its list of attributes.