A venue in Oxfordshire run by a family has secured the title of Greene King Pub of the Year, marking the highest-performing establishment within the entire UK chain.

The 2026 Night of Excellence ceremony arranged by Greene King Pub Partners produced a surprising result for the outlet situated in Wallingford.

Licensees from across the United Kingdom partnered with the hospitality business assembled alongside sector figures for the occasion, where 16 separate accolades were handed out.

The honoured classifications spanned from Community Pub of the Year through to Pub Team of the Year, concluding with the fiercely contested overall Pub of the Year trophy.

This cycle’s winner of the main prize was The Dolphin on St Mary’s Street in Wallingford.

The Dolphin has remained in family hands for over 23 years, overseen by proprietor Emma Cox.

The venue functions as a key meeting place for residents of the town and has even attracted attention from King Charles, who extended a summons to the staff for a Buckingham Palace Garden Party scheduled for later in the year to acknowledge their work for Wallingford.

Ms Cox indicated she was rendered unable to speak by the accolade, given that venues in the running for the overall Pub of the Year prize are not made aware of their nomination in advance.

To indicate it came as a shock would be an understatement, the proprietor remarked. We are completely astounded.

Though she could not be present at the event herself, Ms Cox’s mother and father, who formerly ran the pub, collected the prize on behalf of the whole crew.

This represents the second honour the venue has obtained from Greene King, having previously won Community Pub of the Year at the 2024 event.

All together, 11 Greene King pubs and seven licensees left with prizes following the elaborate event and meal held at the voco St John’s Hotel in Solihull on the evening of Wednesday, April 22.

This cycle, England World Cup winning hero Sir Geoff Hurst, who has worked alongside Greene King on an ale, was present at the proceedings.

Dan Robinson, Managing Director of Greene King Pub Partners, declared: Our warmest congratulations to every winner at this year’s Night of Excellence awards – the quality displayed by our partners remains outstanding. It is genuinely an honour to work alongside such dedicated and skilled pub operators throughout the UK, and evenings like this give us the chance to celebrate our remarkable partners, the fantastic pubs they operate and the significant difference they make to the neighbourhoods they serve.

Other winners comprised Tony Edwards and Iona Roberts, who were jointly handed the Lifetime Achievement Award for their exemplary stewardship of The Five Bells in Henlow, Bedfordshire, with both having spent more than four decades working in the pub trade, and Gerard Flynn, founder of True Pub Co., who secured the Multiple Operator of the Year prize.