Sarah Willingham of Nightcap Plc double winner at the Publican Awards

Sarah Willingham, founder and CEO of late-night venue operator Nightcap PLC, has been crowned Business Leader of the Year at the Publican Awards, the pub trade’s equivalent to the Oscars.

Licensing law firm, Poppleston Allen, sponsored the Business Leader of the Year award, which was attended by over 1,500 people from the world of pubs, bars, restaurants and nightclubs.

It was a night of double celebration for Sarah and her team as they also picked-up the ‘late night’ operator of the year title.

On winning the award, Sarah sad: “I am flabbergasted, I didn’t expect to win leader of the year”.

Sarah added: “I am so happy for the team; they have put so much work in over the past two years so to win best late night is actually the real lift everyone needed”.

Ed Bedington, editor of The Morning Advertiser, which organises the awards said: “These awards are the pinnacle for companies to win – the judging process really puts the businesses through their paces”.

Lisa Sharkey, managing partner at Poppleston Allen comments: “It was great to see the industry come together again to celebrate their achievements and fantastic to see Sarah Willingham receive the ultimate accolade of Business Leader of the Year. This award for me recognises hard work, determination, inspiration, imagination and true grit. Well done Sarah!”

A full list of winners can be found here

For further information on this news item, contact head of marketing and partner (non-solicitor) Carl Weston on 0115 953 8500.