Acorn Awards 2025: Beth Doherty, Beckford Group

Age 27

Position Head of marketing and brand, Beckford Group

Nominator Carley Parkinson, head of people and culture, Beckford Group

Beth Doherty has transformed how the Beckford Group connects with its customers, bringing personality, creativity and commercial impact to every post, campaign and plate.

At just 27, Doherty heads up marketing for the six-strong pub estate in Wiltshire and Somerset, overseeing six social media channels and 57,000 newsletter subscribers, promoting the stories behind the group’s six pubs.

Doherty started with no formal team or budget and has grown the brand’s digital presence from the ground up, increasing social media engagement by 71% and launching initiatives such as the Beckford Pub Crawl loyalty campaign to boost guest engagement and drive footfall across venues.

Doherty’s flair for content makes the chefs the stars of the show. Through @BeckfordFood, a dedicated chef-led channel, she’s elevated food photography and given the back of house team a platform to showcase their craft, boosting morale and recruitment in the process.

Equally comfortable behind the lens as she is building a marketing strategy, Doherty has trained dozens of team members to create content and built a network of social media champions across the business. Her work has helped managers better understand digital marketing and brought front and back of house teams closer together.

Outside her day job, she continues to champion small independent hospitality businesses through her personal blog and through initiatives such as her podcast, Wine Time, which provided invaluable visibility for local businesses in Salisbury.

Her kindness and willingness to go the extra mile is demonstrated by her personal touch with customers; her offer to act as wedding day photographer at a Beckford venue showed her instinct for storytelling alongside her skills at cultivating an exceptional guest experience.