Taken for grant

Tony Bricknell-Webb has had enough of the AA and has just fired off a letter withdrawing his hotel and restaurant, Percy's, from the AA Guide. "The AA has been an ongoing thorn in my side," he says. "Most awards are customer-based, but the AA is just ticking boxes. Customers don't care about trouser presses, but whether they had a good time or not. Until they become more customer-based, we don't want to be included. We'll stick with the RAC."

This decision is the result of a flurry of correspondence, and follows a recent visit by an AA inspector after which the two-AA-star, two-rosette Percy's saw its previous 73% rating increased by a mere 3%.

Tony was particularly surprised that the AA didn't include Percy's in its top 200 hotels, and felt it devalued Percy's other achievements. The business has won a number of accolades over the past few months, including the titles of 2003 Johansen's Restaurant of the Year for Europe, the ETC's Small Hotel of the Year for the West Country (for the second year running), an RAC Gold Ribbon and four dining awards.

He was also annoyed about the AA's grading system. His list of gripes is long, but one area of contention was that Percy's had not been inspected for 20 months, during which time its eight bedrooms had been upgraded with hand-made ash furniture - some now even have such facilities as Jacuzzis and DVD players. Tony says, however, that the inspector thought these improvements had already been taken into account in the previous visit.

While all this has been going on, Tony has also had to deal with a setback in his bid to address the local skills shortage. He and his chef wife, Tina, want to set up an academy to train top-quality chefs. They have applied to the Regional Development Agency (RDA) for an £800,000 grant (see above). The RDA, however, has queried how the couple can guarantee that the graduates will stay in the area once trained, and is concerned that they won't get enough students in the light of poor uptake at colleges.

Tony's response has been to put the RDA in touch with South West Tourism, which is aware of how damaging the skills shortage has been to tourism and which backed the Percy's bid in the first place.

A decision was expected from the RDA as Caterer went to press. In the meantime, Tony is under pressure from Hobarts, which wants to settle details about the kitchen equipment it has pledged. Tony is quietly confident the RDA will give the grant. "They've got to do something to sort out the skills shortage down here, and nobody else is doing it," he says.

He has been watching with interest Jamie Oliver's progress in training youngsters on the TV programme Jamie's Kitchen. Though reluctant to knock Oliver, he has reservations about the bad behaviour and swearing that has been screened. "We want to take on 16-year-olds and have had to convince parents we don't work like that," he says. "It doesn't show this industry in a very professional light."

Back to business, the Bricknell-Webbs are pleased with overall results. A decision not to discount room rates in the winter has paid off, and Tony reckons this led to turnover of £257,045 between 1 April and 15 December - a 50% increase over the previous year.

Christmas may have crept up on the couple but it will be busy, too. Percy's is open and fully booked, and they are confident that bookings will start to come in for the New Year when people find out whether they are invited to a party or not. Then it's into January, when the four trainees will be "let loose on the public" for the first time.

Next visit to Percy's: 6 February

The story so far

Tony and Tina Bricknell-Webb swapped their chain of betting shops for the world of hospitality 15 years ago. Since 1996, they have been running Percy's Country Hotel and Restaurant near Okehampton in Devon. They grow nearly all the produce themselves organically, including chicken and lamb, which Tina, a locally acclaimed chef, cooks.

They are currently trying to tackle the skills shortage in the area by setting up a chefs' academy. Nearly everything is in place: Hobart is providing equipment; the Learning and Skills Council has pledged funds of £5,500 per student; and the Duchy College has agreed to be a course verifier. To build the academy, the Bricknell-Webbs need £1.1m. They have submitted a bid to the South West of England Regional Development Agency (RDA) for £800,000, will borrow £250,000, and will make up the shortfall by increasing turnover. Now, it's just a case of waiting to hear from the RDA.

Percy's

Virginstow, near Okehampton, Devon
Tel: 01409 211236
Web site: www.percys.co.uk
Owners: Tony and Tina Bricknell-Webb
Opened: March 1996
Bedrooms: eight
Seats: 36 (28 in use)
Estate: 130 acres
Investment: £365,000
Grants to date: £25,000 from South West Tourism for the rooms; £40,000 for the new bar; plus £22,000 this year to upgrade the furniture. Also, £3,000 from SWT and £2,000 from Business Link to present the academy bid to the RDA.

Figures from 1 April to 15 December