Hotel near Wigan does the double at the prestigious Lancashire Tourism Awards

Holland Hall, at Up Holland, was named Wedding Venue of the Year while a key employee was named Unsung Hero of the Year.

The hotel was acquired by Bill Kenyon in 2018, and, with the help of his "fantastic" team, propelled it from a run-down venue to leading destination status in just five years - despite the best efforts of the pandemic.

One of those "fantastic" team members is Holland Hall Wedding Co-ordinator Joanne Denton, 41, from Skelmersdale, who judges considered to be somebody who quietly gets stuck in and delivers remarkable weddings, and warranted recognition for those efforts.

"I'll not deny it's been a tough slog against pandemic and economic environment, as well as a battle to bring in the best possible staff," said Mr Kenyon.

"But the team has been amazing, and I'm absolutely delighted that the hotel and its staff collectively, and Joanne individually, have been recognised as being amongst the best of Lancashire's hospitality industry," he added.

"Joanne has been with us since 2018, and actually joined as front of house. But a vacancy arose on the weddings side, we dropped her in at the deep end - she had no experience on that front - and she just ran with it. Look where she ended up."

Joanne said: "I'm so grateful to Bill for giving me that chance. To see the transformation at Holland Hall since 2018, seeing it go from strength to strength has been amazing - it has been fantastic to see it come back to life."

Holland Hall was represented as a finalist in four categories in the event at King George's Hall, Blackburn - Dog Friendly Business, Hotel Wedding Venue, Resilience & Innovation and Unsung Hero.

As a measure of the deserving nature of the award, Holland Hall took more wedding reception bookings for 2024 by the end of January than it actually conducted in the whole of 2023.