Staff at the Beefeater restaurant in Southcote are celebrating after being recognised in a top industry awards ceremony.

The restaurant in Southcote Lane won the Continuous Improvement title at the Whitbread Way Awards, held at the NEC in Birmingham on May 22.

The Whitbread Group runs restaurant chains across the UK, including Beefeater, Café Rouge, Pizza Hut, TGI Friday’s and Beefeater.

Anya Barker, spokeswoman for the group, said restaurants in the category had to demonstrate a “restless ambition to strive for improvement and show a real ‘can do’ approach towards making positive changes”.

She said teamwork in meeting business challenges was also an important factor in picking the winners.

Jenny Bandenberg, deputy manager at the restaurant, said of the award: “It’s fantastic. We worked hard for it. It’s all down to hard work and teamwork.

“We look after our guests and got the results that the company wanted. We keep the people who we’re working for happy and kept complaints to a minimum. This was all a big team effort.”

Whitbread’s Simon Barratt said: “It is very apparent that we have some outstanding people working in our business who are 100 per cent focused on doing the best for their people, making sure their guests get the best and ensuring they drive the best possible results. Many congratulations to them all.”

The team at Southcote Beefeater got £500 worth of John Lewis vouchers and have been given cash to hold a celebratory knees-up for the whole team.