A glittering awards ceremony hosted by St Austell Brewery last night, Thursday January 26, has celebrated the very best of the south west’s pub industry.

The annual Tribute Estate Awards ceremony, held at the Great Western Hotel in Newquay, gave awards in a total of 19 categories in recognition of excellence and success within the Brewery’s 170-strong pub and hotel estate.

Forget X Factor, the real search for the UK’s best singers is finally over. 

Well, pub singers that is… regulars of the Seven Stars Inn, Stithians, Cornwall, have sung their way to the top and will now be performing alongside Port Isaac’s famous ensemble Fisherman’s Friends in their own local. 

Jill Stein will help Pub is The Hub host the launch of a new Local Community Services Champions initiative for Cornwall in January. The scheme, which launched in 2011 aims to help pubs become local service champions.

The launch event will be held at Jill and Rick Stein’s own pub, The Cornish Arms in St Merryn near Padstow, on 17^th January. The meeting will showcase advice, support and, if appropriate, funding for pub operators and owners who are considering a diversification scheme. This follows on from previous launch events, supported by the Big Lottery Fund, in Suffolk, Essex and North Yorkshire last year which have resulted in dozens of new projects currently underway.

One of Cornwall’s oldest businesses has marked its 160^th anniversary by planting 160 trees. 

St Austell Brewery has planted the saplings across its pub estate to celebrate its 160 year anniversary in 2011. 

The trees, which have found new homes in the grounds of the Brewery’s pubs and hotels across the South West, mark an important milestone in the Brewery’s history and also uphold the business’s commitment to minimising environmental impact.