Wowzers! What a year 2024 has been and we couldn’t have done it without your support. 

This time last year was a little bleak, to say the least. The George was closed due to flooding and we had no idea when we’d be back open. The Ashford Arms had unexpected structural work which meant a delayed opening. So we were down from the three expected venues to just one – our flagship and original venue, The Maynard.

2024 has been different. A LOT has happened…

STEVE STEPPED UP

In January, Stephen Atkinson, the very first employee of Longbow Venues became a director of the business. Steve took a massive risk to leave the safety of brewery-owned venues to create the Longbow vision with me. It felt right to have him step up so I could take a step back and see the bigger strategic picture.

Steve also took the reigns on motivating the troops when The George closed and The Ashford Arms was behind schedule. As a business that puts ‘people over profits, always’ we vowed to keep everyone’s job safe and Steve took the initiative to redeploy staff and overhaul, refine and improve all our processes.

LIVING THE LONGBOW VISION

This meant we had a well-trained team, a thorough plan and the smoothest opening when The Ashford Arms opened in March 2024. Steve had also worked with our general managers Charlotte Barker (The Maynard), Alice Houghton (The George) and Josh Butler (The Ashford Arms) to create a culture of decentralised command within the teams.

Living, breathing and feeding down the importance of our values; ‘you’, passion, progressive, heritage and character has ensured our teams have one cohesive vision. Along with our ethos of ‘people over profits, always’ and our commitment that you always #enjoymore our teams are given autonomy to improve guest and diner experience.

This year has felt excellent in the way our teams have operated with a strong shared vision, goals and a desire for continuous progression.

PROGRESSING AND GROWING

Progression has once again played a huge part in the Longbow story. In 2023 we hired a dedicated Talent and Succession Manager, Jack Arksey. Rising stars within the business have been noticed and given opportunities to progress. In 2024 alone, we have made 22 internal promotions including Stephen Atkinson, Operations Director, Josh Butler, General Manager of The Ashford Arms, Alina Gagea, Head Chef at The Peacock at Owler Bar, and Katie Gosney, Deputy Manager at The George. (These are a mere selection but click their names to read their stories). Seeing people progress gives us the greatest job satisfaction along with seeing our teams win.

We’ve also made new hires in our head office team in finance, commercial sales, communications, recruitment, social media, graphic design, area manager, opening managers and chef managers to ensure we’re on track for projected growth. Charlotte Barker has progressed from general manager of The Maynard to area manager, and Alice Houghton has moved from her role as general manager of The George to a HQ role as openings manager of our new venues, overseeing new venue launches and supporting new managers.

AWARD-WINNING YEAR

It’s been another incredible award-winning year and highlights have included The George winning Team of the Year at the 2024 Peak District, Derbyshire and Derby Tourism Awards 2024. Emma West (formerly of The George, now at The Ashford Arms) won bronze in the Young Tourism Achiever category and Group Executive Chef, Adrian Gagea won bronze for Unsung Hero.

In the East Midlands Chamber Women in Business Awards we were ecstatic to see Charlotte Barker (The Maynard) win Best Employee and Alice Houghton (The George) win Enterprising Leader. Jemima Prater (formerly The Maynard, now at The Ashford Arms) was runner-up in the Generation Next Awards for Rising Star and Stephen Atkinson (Director) was crowned Entrepreneur of the Year in the same awards. We also took the trophy for Investing in Young Talent for Longbow’s commitment to internal progression, training and staff wellbeing.

In the East Midlands Business Awards, we won for Outstanding Growth and Excellence in Customer Service. The Wedding Industry Awards crowned The Maynard as Best Wedding Venue in the East Midlands and The I Do Awards awarded us Best Wedding Venue too. 

I’ll end on the one that really meant the most – The Sunday Times Best Places to Work 2024. When I set out to create Longbow Venues I was driven by people. I knew there had to be another way to do this hospitality lark better without sacrificing the sanity, morale and wellbeing of the hard-working teams who make it happen. Winning a ‘Best Places to Work’ accolade meant the absolute world. It was one of those ‘pinch me’ moments where a goal was realised and the hard work has been worth it.

THE ASHFORD ARMS & THE PEACOCK AT OWLER BAR

The hard work of our teams has meant that The Ashford Arms has surpassed all financial projections and continues to be a runaway success. It’s a special place we’re very fond of and a business decision we’re proud we made. The opening party was amazing. We definitely got a bit silly with the free drinks vouchers but essentially having a free bar turned out to not be such a bad way to get acquainted with our new friends and neighbours!

The Ashford Arms opening was so smooth it became a plug-and-play blueprint for future openings and when The Peacock at Owler Bar became an opportunity for us, it was a busy but seamless process to get the venue renovated, teams trained and everything in place. We were only closed for only 2.5 weeks for the renovation which we’re super proud of. Getting opened in time for Christmas, especially after Christmas 2023 with only one venue open was an incredible feeling. If you haven’t popped in yet, do make time to have a drink at the bar or indulge in the delicious menu. We hope you’ll love it as much as we do.

ENJOYING MORE

2024 has been a year of growth while maintaining consistency – which is no mean feat. While we’ve been plotting, strategising and implementing growth plans, we’ve continued to get better in our service, offer and our products. Our talented chefs have collaborated on exceptional menus, working directly with our beloved Peak District suppliers to ensure that the food we make for you is the best, freshest and local. We believe in supporting the local farmers, producers, growers and suppliers and are proud of never compromising on this.

We’ve welcomed more events in 2024. The Maynard’s Wedding and Events Manager, Katie Angrave, and her team brought events like Mamma Mia, Murder Mystery dinners and our packed-out Christmas programme to The Maynard. Winning Best Venue at the I Do Awards and The Wedding Industry Awards is the perfect recognition for our dedicated events team.

COMING UP IN 2025

By now, we were hoping to have had a decision on the old bank in Bakewell. If you missed this one, we put in an application to turn the old Royal Bank of Scotland building into a restaurant and bar. At the time of writing, no decision has been made. We’re hoping to have one very soon. I hope to be writing about the success of this amazing venue in next year’s round-up. Keep everything crossed for us!

There’s another top-secret potential venue on the horizon too, but that’s literally the only thing I can say on this one. Watch this space.

It’s pretty overwhelming, in a good way, that in 2025 we could have 6 venues open. We’re ready for growth, ready to scale and ready for the adventure. 

THANK YOU

I couldn’t do any of this without the hard work and passion of our brilliant teams. This started off as my dream but it’s now a collective vision. I still can’t quite believe it. Walking in to our venues fills me with overwhelming pride seeing the mind-blowing talent, devotion and dedication of our people in action.

Working as a manager in hospitality before founding Longbow Venues left me frustrated. I knew in my heart there had to be another way and I had a choice to make; I could either let it eat me up, change careers or do something different and prove it could be different. But I couldn’t do that on my own. It needed a movement, a culture shift and a band of people all wanting things to change. So many people took personal and professional risks jumping ship to sail with me. We now have a fleet with a crew so devoted, so focused on the destination and so brilliant – even in choppy waters they remain steadfast, and navigate calmly through the storm. 

I also couldn’t do this without you. I wanted to round this round-up off by saying a heartfelt thank you to you, our loyal customers. You have helped us prove something so important that has left many in hospitality lost, dejected and ready to throw in the towel. Record numbers of pubs are shutting their doors and while so many struggle, we continue to thrive. That’s thanks to you voting, with your feet, about where you choose to invest your hard-earned money in drinking, dining and lodging experiences. 

What we offer is premium, because we feel it’s important to support our local agricultural, artisan and food-producing communities. Thank you for choosing us. We hope our dedication to our people, our suppliers and our continued strive for consistent excellence has surprised and delighted you this year. We look forward to welcoming you back to The Maynard, The George, The Ashford Arms and The Peacock at Owler Bar in 2025. 

Who knows, we might be welcoming you to a few more new places too? Let’s hope so.

Cheers to 2025.

Rob