Talbot Hotel manager in Malton wins top industry award

Ben Stonehouse, 46, who works at the Talbot Hotel in Malton, took home the Duty Manager of the Year title from The Coaching Inn Group.

The group, which currently holds the title of the UK’s Which Best Large Hotel Chain, operates 42 hotels and inns across the country.

Mr Stonehouse received the award in front of more than 300 colleagues at a black-tie dinner at The Engine Shed in Lincoln.

He said: “I love my role and being a member of the Talbot team, who all work together like one large extended family, and receiving this award was like the icing on the cake and was certainly an occasion I will never forget.”

A father of three, he grew up in Brawby and attended Malton Secondary School.

He added: “I started out as a litter picker and graduated to a customer service role, which I thoroughly enjoyed because, then as now, I simply love meeting people.

“Then when the opportunity came along to become a Duty Manager back at The Talbot in my hometown, I jumped at it and have never looked back.”

After shifting into hospitality, Mr Stonehouse worked as a bar barista before becoming Front of House Manager at the 15th-century Plough Inn in Wombledon.

Adam Charity, managing director of The Coaching Inn Group, said: “Ben, with his great enthusiasm for working as a member of the Talbot team, was a most worthy winner of the Duty Manager of the Year Award.”