Pub Operator of the Year

When is a pub not a pub? When it's also a hotel? Or maybe a restaurant? And are the ideal pubs those that combine all three in a seamless mix that has a bit of something for every customer?

Last year's winner of the Pub Operator of the Year Catey, Paul Whittome of the Hoste Arms in Burnham Market, Norfolk, gets around that dilemma by describing himself as an innkeeper rather than a publican, and, in the opinion of last year's judges, his pub excels in all three areas.

But what traits, according to Whittome, does a good pub operator need? "You've got to love the job to start with," he says. "You've also got to have the ability to get out and go and look and listen to other people and learn from them. You need to be passionate and look forward to the future and future trends and, above all, never rest on your laurels."

The judges in this category, of which Whittome will be one this year, are looking for many different qualities: flair and innovation are obviously important, but that has to be combined with a good head for business and figures. They will also examine the nominee's commitment to staff training and his or her involvement in the local community and industry as a whole.

Whittome certainly displays all these things: he has recently spent £300,000 adding another eight rooms to the Hoste Arms, bringing the total up to 34, and £150,000 on a new kitchen. The pub now has a turnover of £2m a year, compared with £150,000 when he first took it over 10 years ago.

But winning the Catey last year was a crowning achievement. "The year was phenomenal," he says. "We've won so many awards in the inn and pub categories - Egon Ronay, Johansens, the Good Hotel Guide - but I didn't realise how much prestige comes from receiving a Catey.

"The reaction has been fantastic, even Rocco Forte and Rick Stein, my fellow award winners from last year, have been down to the pub to see me, which is a great honour."

But, insists Whittome, it is very much a team effort at the Hoste Arms. "The staff were incredibly pleased, of course. We had a big party and I took the managers out to Morston Hall (a Newcomer of the Year Catey winner from 1993) and opened a bottle of 1979 Château Pétrus which, at £350 a bottle, is something I don't do very often."

Part of Whittome's skill is knowing the perfect balance between bar, restaurant and hotel. The new rooms, he says, mark the end of that kind of development at his pub.

"The Hoste Arms is at its peak size. What to do in the future is now a difficult question," he says. "I've had some very nice offers to set up a public company, but I won't sell the Hoste. For next year there are many alternatives and I haven't yet decided which way to go."

Do you know of a publican to match the standards set by Whittome and the Hoste Arms? To nominate a candidate for the Pub Operator of the Year award, telephone Sarah Sutton on 020 8652 8349 for a nomination form. An additional supporting statement of no more than 200 words can be included on a separate piece of paper.

Closing dates for nominations is Friday 3 March and judging will take place at the Berkeley hotel, London, on Wednesday 3 May.