The top movers and shakers of the UK drinks industry gathered last night in London to hear the results of the Imbibe Personality of the Year Awards 2018.

The nominees were voted for by Imbibe magazine’s readers in record-breaking numbers and the shortlist included the highest calibre of UK on-trade professionals.

Tim Bird, co-founder of Cheshire Cat Pubs & Bars picked up the award for Pub Personality of the Year.

Imbibe editor, Chris Losh, commented: ‘Tim has worked in the industry for over 35 years, and since he’s saved many pubs from closure in that time, it’s safe to say the UK’s pub scene would not have been the same without him.

‘He’s proved himself amazing at running everything from big pub groups to small independents, and, for the last seven years, his own group of country pubs and Inns. This passion for the industry is exactly what Imbibe Magazine is all about’.

Judges for the competition included restaurateur George Bergier, the Connaught Bar’s Ago Perrone, Michelin-starred chef Adam Byatt, Northcote’s Craig Bancroft, Gin Journey’s Leon Dalloway, Beer Belle Annabel Smith, Mixology Group’s Myles Cunliffe and the Imbibe editorial team.

Imbibe launched the Personality of the Year Awards in 2011 and previous winners have included Heston Blumenthal, Ronan Sayburn MS, Thinking Drinkers, Alex Kratena, Christine Parkinson, Xavier Rousset MS, Dee Davies, Lyndon Higginson, Stuart McCluskey, Salvatore Calabrese, Laura Rhys MS, Thomas Decan, the Galvin Brothers and Jake Burger, as well as many other on-trade professionals.

The 2018 awards were presented on Monday 12th February at Mahiki Kensington.

Launched in March 2007, Imbibe magazine has rapidly become the UK’s leading magazine for on-trade drinks professionals working in premium UK establishments. Imbibe is a quarterly magazine, with more than 20,000 drinks buyers and servers in the UK receiving a copy. Copies are available upon request.

Imbibe Magazine is the UK’s leading drinks magazine and tonight at their annual awards in London our owner Tim was chosen as ‘Pub Personality of the Year 2018’.

Tim was up against some of the pub industry’s top talent on the night, but the judges not only looked at Tim’s vast experience in the industry but particularly the success of Cheshire Cat Pubs and Bars, Tim’s company that he operates with his wife and business partner Mary McLaughlin. They have taken pubs that were either closed or close to closure and through their restoration have created one of the best small pub companies in the UK!

On winning this prestigious award, Tim thanked the team at Cheshire Cat…..”I have had many proud moments in my career but nothing has made me prouder than the achievement of our pubs. Starting our own business was the best thing we have ever done and tonight I share this award with Mary and the Cheshire Cat team! I would like to thank Imbibe Magazine for giving me one of the proudest moments in my career! I look forward to celebrating with the team!”

The famous ale named after our ‘man of the froth’ Ian Blay our Village Reverend is back !! Yes at the start of March we have pleasure bringing it back to the bar here at the Church Inn.

Ian loves a good ramble across the farmers fields of Mobberley and has been known to ‘ramble’ a little after a pint of his favourite ale. A Rambling Rector is also a plant that delivers a white flower in May and grows abundantly if planted against the wall of a house.

It can be a little thorny but the flowers do match our reverends rather opulent shirts! So many reasons for the naming of this ale brewed for us by Wincle Brewery near Macclesfield! It’s a malty amber ale and at 4% a quaffable pint indeed!

As some of you may know, we lost our beloved hens to a fox earlier in the year. They have been sadly missed by us all.

At the end of October, we were contacted by a charity, informing us there were some ex-battery rescue hens which needed rehoming – as you can imagine, we didn’t hesitate in saying we would take as many as we could.

Therefore, we would like you to meet Dill, Marjoram, Sage and Sorrel. They are in bad shape at the moment; tired and bedraggled, never having known anything other than a cage. The two youngest hens didn’t even understand how to scratch the ground or preen themselves, however even after just a week it was phenomenally rewarding to see their instincts kick in and them start to behave as free hens should.

We are confident that with a loving home and plenty of TLC they will flourish. Until they get used to their new surroundings, they are living in a smaller run. Soon you will be able to see them roaming around their walk-in run in the beer garden.

The Church Inn, in Mobberley, has won the coveted title of Cheshire Life Magazine’s Dining Pub of the Year. The award, presented at Carden Park Hotel, saw the team pip their sister pub The Cholmondeley Arms in the final of the Cheshire Life Food & Drink Awards 2017.

The Church Inn scooped this year’s title after judges visited the pub and were blown away by the quality and taste of the food as well as the ambience in which it is served.  The food, described as Modern British, includes a selection of exceptional seasonal specials as well as the favourite dishes you would expect from a quintessentially English village pub. All dishes are regularly changed to match what’s in season and available from local producers.

SIMON PROUDLY HOLDS YET ANOTHER AWARD WITH ASST.

SIMON WITH A FEW MEMBERS OF THE TEAM STANDING PROUD WITH THE AWARD

The kitchen also prepares a special tasting menu for Saturday evenings and for private diners in the pub’s George Mallory dining room, a room that pays homage to the local villager and famous mountaineer who died on Everest in 1924.  There is also an extensive wine list that includes 80 different wines, 15 of which are available by the glass, that have been carefully selected to provide a balance of ‘old’ and ‘new’ world wines.

Tim Bird, owner of the Church Inn comments; “It’s fantastic to be recognized in this way and for the team to rewarded for all the hard work they put in, day in day out.  We have sought to develop dishes to suit each occasion whether it be a light lunch or a special supper and we’re also proud to celebrate this recognition with all our local producers.

The Church Inn is one of seven country pubs (five in Cheshire, one in Dorset and one in Staffordshire) that are owned and operated by Tim Bird and Mary McLaughlin’s Cheshire Cat Pubs & Bars group. The group has had an extraordinarily successful year receiving a flurry of awards including; Best Casual Dining Pub, Best Food Offer in the UK, Sawday’s Favourite Newcomer, Pub & Bar’s Best Pub in the North West as well as being recognised in the Northern Bar and Restaurants Top 50 Companies.

By The MA, 16-Mar-2017

Pioneering food couple Tim Bird and Mary McLaughlin have used their vast experience in the foodservice sector to build their growing fleet of seven food-led pubs. Read More

Tim and Mary help with the funding of the Heritage sign for the village stocks situated adjacent to the Wilfrid’s Church and the Church Inn here in Mobberley…

Church Inn owner Tim with Angela from the Mobberley Parish Council photographed next to the famous Mobberley Stocks and whipping posts opposite the Church Inn who helped with the sign funding

The stocks have been revealed for all to see and with the new Heritage sign they really will attract the eye as people pass by