Acorn Awards 2025: Ellie Dimes, Lucknam Park Hotel & Spa

Age 28

Position Senior restaurant manager, Lucknam Park

Nominator Hywel Jones, executive chef and food and beverage director, Lucknam Park Hotel & Spa

Ellie Dimes is steering one of the UK’s finest hotel dining operations with skill, calm leadership and a passion for service.

Dimes joined Cotswold hotel Luckman Park Hotel & Spa in 2016, starting as a chef de rang and rising through the ranks, with roles including head waiter and assistant restaurant manager. She became senior restaurant manager in 2024, overseeing both the Michelin-starred restaurant Hywel Jones and the newly refurbished and relaunched Walled Garden. She now manages a team of 20 and has been instrumental in delivering record-breaking covers, high guest satisfaction and consistently strong profits.

Dimes has held the reins at the Michelin-starred restaurant for five years, maintaining the star throughout – no small feat in a post-Covid climate. More recently, she successfully opened the Walled Garden, building a new team and managing 3,500 covers in its first summer, all while still managing Hywel Jones. 

Her commercial acumen is matched by her people skills; Dimes’ nurturing management style has helped to grow her team through trust, empowerment and tailored training. She has supported many of her team members to achieve promotions, including one who started off in hospitality as a kitchen porter and is now head waiter. In addition, her wider contributions to staff development are personal and practical, from vineyard trips to late-night roadside rescues, she’s always first to support her team.

Her influence also extends beyond the business. Dimes regularly judges the Gold Service Scholarship, mentors hospitality students through college partnerships and hosts industry outreach days to promote hospitality careers. Named Restaurant Manager of the Year at the 2023 Hotel Cateys, aged just 26, Dimes’s blend of ambition, empathy and operational precision makes her a standout leader.