FLEUR DE LYS: BEST PUB OF THE YEAR 2025

In 2013, the Fleur De Lys pub in Lowsonford came up for sale. When the email notification landed in my inbox from the sales agent, I excitedly forwarded the listing to Nick saying, “We should definitely buy this place, it’s the best pub in the world.”

I feel pretty validated that a short 12 years later, the Coventry & Warwickshire Foodie Awards named the Fleur De Lys as the Best Pub of The Year 2025. It might not be the global domination that I’d originally touted, but I still feel my prediction has been endorsed nonetheless!

For someone who is compulsively uncompetitive, it felt like a real strain to enter the Foodie Awards. Every fibre of my body screamed with impostor syndrome as I went through the application process, answering questions about how we run our pub and generally tooting our own trumpet. Every single bad review we’ve ever had rang in my ears whilst I tried to explain why and how we could be considered to be The Best Pub…

But it’s not about me and my own insecurities. It’s about the literal pub: the bricks and bones of this old building that has been standing here for centuries longer than you or I. It’s about the people inside it, both in front of and behind the bar. It’s about the legions of families who have travelled to the Fleur De Lys from Birmingham, Coventry, Leamington and beyond, across multiple generations, who have made core memories with family and friends beneath these beams. It’s about the fact that the Fleur has resisted change for the sake of it and avoided corporate management. It’s about the fact that even if you didn’t like what a previous owner did (or perhaps even the current ones!) you know that you’ll come back again another time when the regime changes because this place is something special, irrespective of who’s in charge. There is a little bit of magic in this pocket of Warwickshire, which we are very proud to be a part of.

Whilst I was completing our application, the thought crept into my head that people might say “Who does she think she is?” and the answer to that is: I am absolutely nobody if not for the team whose hard work this award was won. From the smiling faces you see at your table, to the chefs behind the scenes carrying out an inhuman level of work, we’re very lucky to have built a dedicated and loyal gang who believe in the Fleur in all its forms. It’s not just those guys though, it’s all the people you don’t see who contribute to this behemoth of a business: the cleaning team who come in first thing every morning, the egg lady, our wine supplier, the window cleaner, our genius stocktaker, the groundsmen, my Mum, the cellar maintenance guys and probably many more vitally important people I can’t fit into this word count.

Best Pub Of The Year is dedicated to each and every one of them.

In a climate where more than 300 pubs closed in the first three months of 2025, it feels like we should take any and every opportunity we get to celebrate the longevity of this place. Like so many others, we almost lost everything when Covid hit so to come through that and the subsequently turbulent five years since and receive this award feels like a huge achievement. A real cherry on top of the cake of surviving a pandemic!

One of the side effects of taking part in the Foodie Awards was being in a room full of passionate hospitality operators who have faced adversity and continue to champion their hard work. It introduced us to some really great local businesses we hadn’t previously known about who we want to try out when we get a day off, too.

For fellow business owners, I actually do recommend getting involved with competitions like this, despite it going against every bone in my body! I never expected to win but undertaking the process made me focus on all the bits of our business that I probably take for granted and make a big deal of it. It’s the perfect way to honour your team. It is, of course, no bad thing to shout about in the local press. If you don’t win, you can still bang on about taking part.

And if you do win? Well, then you’ll be riding a wave of adrenaline and taking a shiny award home with you.