Alongside Pennington, highly commended awards were presented to Giacomo Arcadu, manager in training at The Lanesborough, and Caoimhe Houston, former head waiter at the temporarily closed Le Manoir aux Quat’Saison. Both were given the nod in recognition of their exceptional performance throughout the competition. Accordingly, one will uptake work experience at the Mandarin Oriental hotels in Bangkok and Hong Kong, as well as an overseas Rocco Forte hotel, while the other will head to work at Laurent-Perrier in Champagne.
Joel Pennington named scholar of the year at 2026 Gold Service awards
