The LCN Awards 2017: Launched
Licensed & Catering News is delighted to announce that our annual hospitality awards – now the biggest event in the local industry’s calendar – have been launched for 2017.
Now recognised as the gold standard of achievement for the trades, the Licensed & Catering News Gala Awards will take place at The Europa Hotel in Belfast on June 2 next year.
LCN was at the exclusive Galgorm Resort & Spa near Ballymena this month to celebrate news of the launch of our seventh annual awards and to see the independent search for the very best local hospitality operators launched once again. Our picture above shows Awards organiser, Bill Peton (right) with Paul Smyth, MD at the luxury resort and a former LCN Award winner himself and the LCN 2017 model, Meagan Green.
Our 2016 Awards attracted an unprecedented response from hotels, pubs, restaurants, guest houses, caterers and coffee shops across Northern Ireland and our grand finale at The Europa in June – when awards were distributed in 17 exciting categories – was a sold-out event.
These are the awards that cover every aspect of the hospitality and leisure industries locally, offering recognition and reward to those venues and individuals who are independently judged to be at the very top of their game.
With a re-invigorated line-up of sponsors, more live entertainment than ever before and a comprehensive array of exciting categories, we are expecting big things from the 2017 event.
“The Licensed & Catering News Awards are now very well established on the industry’s social calendar and we are confident that the level of entries for the 2017 competition will reflect the soaring popularity of this event,” said Bill Penton, publisher of LCN and the organiser of this event.,
“Again, we’ll be calling on the expertise of mystery shopping specialists, Spotcheck, to ensure that judging is entirely independent and carried out fairly and rigorously. The awards are free to enter and open to all aspects of the industry. The rewards in terms of PR and recognition are invaluable so I think it’s going to be very exciting to see what the trade has to offer us this time around.”
Among the exciting line-up of categories for the seventh gala awards will be our new Mixologist of the Year category, which we launched very successfully in 2016, with sponsorship from Dillon Bass. Mixology is one of the fastest-growing and most exciting aspects of the hospitality scene locally at present, and we’re very excited to see what our contestants can come up with this time around.
Also, we’ll be naming the recipient of the LCN Lifetime Achievement Award 2017 during the big event in June. The award this year went to hospitality veteran, Lord Diljit Rana MBE and in the past, we’ve honoured other industry stalwarts such as hoteliers, Sir Billy Hastings CBE; Danny Rice and Francis Brady MBE and Belfast publican, Patsy Lavery.
The closing date for entries will be Friday, March 17, 2017 and all finalists are awarded a complimentary seat VIP ticket for our gala awards evenings, when they’ll enjoy a cocktail reception, live music, a gorgeous meal with fine wine and of course, the exciting award ceremony itself.
“This really is the biggest night out in the year for the local hospitality trade,” added Bill Penton. “Even if you aren’t competing for an award, it’s an ideal opportunity to meet up with old friends from the industry and enjoy a spectacular night out with lots of good food and good company and plenty of excitement.”
From next month onwards, you’ll be able to enter for the LCN Awards 2017, either via our website or using the form that we will be publishing in the September edition of Licensed & Catering News.
