The Operations Director of a family-run hotel and pub group has made the list of 30 of the best young hospitality talents to watch under the age of 30.
Emily Lewis, of The Lewis Partnership, received the recognition at this year’s Acorn Awards, which are run by The Caterer to recognise some of the top and up-and-coming talent across the sector.
Each winner was nominated by their peers in the hospitality industry for their outstanding achievements and successes in their field.
Emily, aged 28, said: “To receive such recognition from the industry I have grown up in means the absolute world to me.
“Coming from a small, family-owned business, I never thought this was something I would achieve.
“Being an Acorn Award winner fuels my passion for our fantastic industry even more and I look forward to using this platform to inspire others.”
The Lewis Partnership has three venues – The Moat House, in Acton Trussell; The Dog and Doublet, in Sandon, and The Red Lion in Bradley, near Stafford.
Emily grew up in the business, helping out from a young age and officially joining the team at 16 as a member of waiting on staff. She is the third generation of the family to be at the helm since The Moat House became home to her family’s farm in the 1950’s and was later turned into a pub and restaurant.
Emily worked for the business whilst studying at Keele University and progressed into a management position by the time she graduated three years later.
She had planned to pursue other career opportunities but a freak ski accident in her final year prompted her to go full time in the family business until she got back on her feet – or so she thought.
After a few months, a marketing position became available, and Emily jumped to take on the challenge.
From 2018 to 2021, she overhauled the firm’s entire marketing approach whilst learning other key areas of the business such as sales and HR, also undertaking a degree apprenticeship in Human Resource Management at Staffordshire University.
She became Operations Director and took over the day-to-day running of the business from her dad Chris in 2021 having worked closely with him to navigate the company through the Covid-19 pandemic.
Emily told Daily Focus that one of her main achievements is spearheading the post-Covid recovery efforts and successfully increasing overall profitability compared to pre pandemic levels.
Others are overhauling the sales strategy and pricing structure for weddings, achieving a 37.5 per cent increase in average spend and advocating for important societal issues such as menopause, neurodivergence, and pregnancy loss by implementing supportive policies to aid team members affected by these challenges.
- The Moat House was recently the star of Channel 5 show The Motorway Hotel. Read the Daily Focus story about the series here.
