Sister hotel to host Midlands food finals

13 March 2008

Food producers from across the Midlands are descending on TheSwan's sister hotel, The Moat House in Acton Trussell this month as the hotel hosts the judging stage of the prestigious Heart of England Fine Foods (HEFF) Diamond Awards.

The HEFF Diamond Awards is an award initiative aimed at rewarding the best local producers and raising the profile of the thriving regional food industry.

The Moat House has been chosen as the venue for the judging stage of the awards, and will play host to some of the region's best producers and chefs, including celebrity chef Andreas Antona, founder of the Michelin-starred Simpsons restaurant.

Executive Head Chef at The Moat House, Matt Davies, has also been chosen as one of the competition judges, he said: "It is an honour for the hotel to be chosen as the venue for such a high profile event and a great personal honour to be chosen as a judge for the awards. I'm really looking forward to welcoming such a great variety of food producers to the hotel and look forward to meeting some potential suppliers."

Heart of England Fine Foods formed in 1998 to promote and raise awareness of food and drink available within the West Midlands and help food and drink businesses to develop, expand and create profitable and sustainable markets for their products.

The Diamond Awards have been created to reward and promote those producers that are excelling in their market, the winners will be announced at HEFF's tenth anniversary dinner to be held at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry in May.

Owners of The Moat House, The Lewis Partnership, announced recently they plan to open a delicatessen in Stafford town centre, which will feature local food and drink suppliers. Managing Partner, Chris Lewis, said: "It is a real pleasure to be working so closely with HEFF, both for this event and with the opening of the Greengate Deli. Coming from a farming background, The Lewis Partnership fully supports our local food producers and we are looking forward to creating more opportunities for suppliers to sell their products in the area."

The Lewis Partnership currently own and run the four-star Moat House and three-star Swan hotel in Stafford. Chris is currently awaiting the results of a national competition for the title of 'Licensee of the Year', in which he is one of six finalists.

For further details about HEFF visit their website at www.heff.co.uk, for further details about The Lewis Partnership visit www.thelewispartnership.co.uk.

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