There was pride and delight at Greene King as one of its team members won BDM of the Year at the ALMR Operations Managers awards for the fourth time in a row.
Yvonne Fraser, who looks after tenanted pubs in Surrey, Kent and surrounding areas, won the top prize from the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers, and has spoken about her win and what it meant to continue Greene King’s winning streak.
“I am ambitious and quite competitive and really wanted to win. I felt the pressure to continue Greene King’s winning streak, so was really pleased and almost a bit overwhelmed initially when I was announced as the winner,” said Yvonne. “The whole process was a really good experience to be part of and I have met some great people along the way.”
Fraser joined Greene King in November 2013, making the step from managed pubs into the leased and tenanted industry. She joined from SSP, where she had managed bars in London and Bristol and prior to that she spent 15 years working at JD Wetherspoon.
Fraser said, “I’d never done leased and tenanted before, my background was in the managed sector. It was challenging to switch and took time to get my head around the difference between the two.
“A managed background helped massively with advising licensees on retail standards, customer journeys and margin management. There was a lot of support from the team I joined in the early days that’s really made me love the leased and tenanted side of the business and really embrace it.
'I couldn’t have done it without the teams I’ve worked with then, and throughout my time with Greene King. The development and investment by the company in my development has been excellent.”
Greene King Pub Partners has won the award every year it has entered since 2013. Barry Robinson won the prize that year, with Darren King, who is now Greene King Pub Partners Commercial Director, winning the award in 2014.
After not entering in 2015, Paul Wishart won the top prize last year and was the holder until Yvonne’s victory on 6 November.
Greene King Pub Partners Managing Director, John Forrest said, “We invest heavily in developing our BDMs and we’re thrilled by how Yvonne’s success demonstrates our strength in this area.
“To win this award once is an honour but to have retained it is even more special. Congratulations to Yvonne and also to another of our BDMs Billy Guthrie who made the final and was a runner-up. We are so proud of both of them and of our commitment to developing top quality BDMs to assist our partners in running their business.”