2023 has been a crazy year for us at Elite and has been full of some amazing moments!
We have pulled 474,103 pints, sold 43,419 burgers, 61,026 of our famous kebabs, 102,074 crafty cocktails, 3,017 doggy delis, 152,125 pizzas and served just under a million wonderful customers – and we have enjoyed every second of it. Couples, mates, kids and pooches, we have loved meeting each and every one you.
We wanted to put together a little round up of some events, highlights and achievements we’re proud of this year! Here we go…
Our 20th Year In Business
Our 20th Year In Business
It’s been so exciting to celebrate our 20th year in business with you all. From our birthday party at our very first pub, The Great House to the competitions we’ve been running with top prizes such as shack experiences, countryside stays and more!
Here’s to the next 20 years.
Charity Dog Walks
Charity Dog Walks
We merged our love of dogs with our love of helping charities. Stand Up To Cancer UK is brought to you by Cancer Research UK. Stand Up To Cancer speeds up life-saving cancer research by taking developments in the lab and accelerating them into new tests and treatments for cancer patients who need them.
We were delighted to raise just under a £1000 in total and gave away amazing raffle prizes such as personalised dog treats, ultimate shack experiences and more. We hope to run more charity dog walks next year!
Opening of The Wishful Thinker
Opening of The Wishful Thinker
After 2 years of hard work we were so excited to open our brand new pub, The Wishful Thinker in June.
The Wishful Thinker is our 12th pub and 14th venue to open and what a spectacle our opening party was. The sun was shining and it was the perfect day!
We were over the moon at the turn out of our Grand Opening Party held on Sunday 4th June. We welcomed over 3,500 of you, people of all ages and furry friends too! In total we served over 1,400 pint of draught beer, 168 gins, 140 white wines and 69 glasses of pimms. Along with our delicious drinks we served finger food all day which consisted of mini burgers, lamb koftas, our delicious signature pizzas and more!
Supporting Lenham Big Build
Supporting Lenham Big Build
We’re proud to be supporting The Lenham Big Build, a fundraiser held by Lenham Nursery.
Plans have been afoot to build a modern, purpose built nursery on a site just across the road from the current building. They have plans, the site and planning permission to build a new, sustainable 52 place nursery that can offer year round care and education for the young children of Lenham. Lenham doesn’t currently have a facility that caters for working parents’ needs and the new nursery would aim to be open for longer hours, 50 weeks of the year.
Of course, what they need is the money to build and the parish council is fully supporting them in our bids to raise the majority of the money through grants etc but they have committed to raise £100k themselves through smaller, local fundraising projects.
We’re donating 50p of every power bowl sold at The Wishful Thinker to the project!
The King's Coronation
The King's Coronation
The Coronation weekend really was a sight to be seen. With the Coronation being televised, a Coronation concert and street parties across the country – there was plenty of celebrations to be had.
We had live music and decorations across the pub. We also had some delicious Coronation specials on the menu where we donated 50p from the starers and £1 for the mains to local parishes and schools to each pub. Specials included King & Queen Quiche, King Fish, Coronation Chicken Salad, Classic Pavlova and more.
We raised just under £2000 for our local primary schools!
Our Eco Difference
Our Eco Difference
We are trying our best to do better for the planet, by giving back what we can. One of the ways we are doing this is by using local suppliers with 85% of food suppliers being within 25 miles radius of an elite pub.
Alongside this, we are also proud members of Produced in Kent, which aim to connect growers, producers, and retailers – having a strong relationship with local businesses is something we strive for.
We have 6 bedrooms at The Potting Shed all of which are powered by solar panels. Using a clean, green, renewable source of energy has contributed towards making our bedrooms eco-friendlier and more sustainable.
Finally, we use 100% recycled materials for all of our menus, posters and printed materials in all of our pubs. We also have a QR code that you can access the menu through, which we can reduce the amount we print. Even the napkins we use are 100% recycled materials.
This year was a huge year for growth for us at Elite Pubs. We wanted to say a humongous thank you to each and every one of you who visited us this year and to our amazing suppliers who, whatever the weather, always come through with delivering top quality fresh produce for you to enjoy.
We are ready to welcome you in the New Year, ready to conquer another year. Happy New Year, May 2024 be the best year yet!
