Kentisbury Grange Goes for Gold in VisitEngland’s Awards for Excellence

After a clean sweep at the Devon Tourism Awards, Kentisbury Grange Hotel has been announced as a finalist for Small Hotel of the Year in the prestigious VisitEngland Awards 2016.

North Devon, England, 02/02/2016: The past few months have seen Kentisbury Grange Hotel and onsite restaurant, The Coach House by Michael Caines, go from strength to strength, winning Gold in both the Restaurant of the Year and Small Hotel of the Year at the Devon Tourism Awards.

Yesterday, the national tourist board VisitEngland announced the finalists for the Awards for Excellence 2016 with Kentisbury Grange named as a finalist. The winners of this prestigious accolade will be announced at the Award ceremony on Tuesday 8th March at the Winter Gardens, Blackpool, during English Tourism Week.

Peter Farquhar, General Manager at Kentisbury Grange, said of the news: “It is a real honour to be a finalist in such an esteemed award ceremony. VisitEngland celebrates England's industry leaders and we're absolutely thrilled to represent one of the top five Small Hotels of the Year".

Working collaboratively with the hospitality industry, VisitEngland's Awards for Excellence inspire and motivate businesses to become outstanding leaders in their fields. The finalists were shortlisted from over 400 truly impressive applications and all finalists will receive either Gold, Silver, Bronze or Highly Commended awards.

Said Sally Balcombe, CEO of VisitBritain and VisitEngland: “Awards for Excellence finalists exemplify outstanding tourism talent and distinguished businesses throughout England...there's absolutely no doubt those shortlisted are representatives of the best in the industry who place delivering an unforgettable experience to visitors in England at the heart of their business operations".

To find out more about Kentisbury Grange Hotel, visit the website: www.kentisburygrange.com

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Notes to editor:

The Coach House by Michael Caines is situated in the grounds of Kentisbury Grange Hotel, North Devon, and entered into partnership with Michael Caines MBE in February 2015. Recently renovated by noted local designer Karen Gray, this 17th Century former coaching house is a masterpiece of contemporary rustic design and innovative yet classic cuisine.

Set on the edge of Exmoor National Park, Kentisbury Grange commands some of the county's most breath-taking views of seemingly endless natural beauty.

Press enquiries to gm@kentisburygrange.com or call 01271 882 295.

For more information about VisitEngland or the Awards please contact: Jenia Jeroh, Corporate Communications Manager on T: 020 7578 1482|M: 07583 103881|E: jenia.jeroh@visitengland.org | W: www.visitengland.com/biz

About VisitEngland

• VisitEngland's focus is on the development and delivery of the new Discover England fund for product development to ensure that bookable regional product is being sold in international markets. This activity will also benefit the domestic industry by building engagement and partnerships between and across regions and developing product that will be attractive to both domestic and international markets.
• Our work is underpinned by robust research and customer insights. You can access the latest in-depth market intelligence and statistics on www.visitengland.org/insight-statistics
• Tourism in England is worth £106 billion, and supports 2.6 million jobs.
• For corporate information see www.visitengland.org and for consumer information see www.visitengland.com.

About the VisitEngland Awards for Excellence 2016

• The VisitEngland Awards for Excellence 2016 celebrates the best of English tourism. They promote healthy industry competition and high standards, helping to ensure England's place as a world-class destination. www.visitenglandawards.org.
• The VisitEngland Awards for Excellence are firmly established as representing the highest accolade in English tourism
• The categories for the 2016 awards include: Access for All Tourism Award, Bed & Breakfast Award, Business Tourism Award, Dog Friendly Business of the Year, Holiday Park / Holiday Village of the Year, Large Hotel of the Year, Large Visitor Attraction of the Year, Self-Catering Holiday Provider of the Year, Small Hotel of the Year, Small Visitor Attraction of the Year, Sustainable Tourism Award, Taste of England Award, Tourism Event of the Year, Tourism Experience of the Year, Tourism Pub of the Year, Visitor Information Provider of the Year.
• In addition to the 16 categories are the additional Awards of Tourism Superstar and Outstanding Contribution to Tourism. The Outstanding Contribution to Tourism Award will be announced on the night. Previous winners of this award have included The Great English Pub, Michael Eavis CBE, HM The Queen, the Harry Potter films, Sir Cameron Mackintosh, Sir Paul McCartney, Liverpool, The National Trust, The English Garden, 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games Makers, The Travel Agent and last year The Chefs of England.

About English Tourism Week

English Tourism Week is led by the national tourist board, VisitEngland, and is an industry-wide initiative designed to shine a light on the importance of tourism in England. The industry as whole is worth £106 billion to the UK economy and supports 2.6 million jobs. Hundreds of tourism organisations and businesses will be putting on events to celebrate English Tourism Week this year. For more information about English Tourism Week which takes place between 5 – 13 March 2016, see www.englishtourismweek.co.uk