Local woman Francine Henderson has won a national award, beating thousands of other pub staff across the country.
Francine is assistant manager at The Crab in Shanklin and has won the Old English Inns’ Employee of the Year award. She has worked at The Crab in Shanklin for 7 years, moving from part time bar staff to full time assistant manager over that time.
Francine received the award in recognition for her hard work and steadfast team attitude. She was particularly recognised for the unwavering support she has given to manager Tina Derbyshire after Tina’s husband and manager of the Crab, Derry, passed away suddenly last year. As manager of the Crab for 25 years, Derry’s loss was felt by the whole team and Francine stepped up to 
make sure the pub carried on running as smoothly as possible, as well as being a good friend to Tina. This also meant learning how to do the back of house admin that keeps the pub ticking over alongside the usual day to day jobs involved in running a popular pub and restaurant.
She was recognised in a recent ceremony, beating competition from thousands of colleagues in 100 other pubs and hotels across the country to take the trophy.
Francine commented:
“I was so shocked but really pleased to have won! We had a great night at the ceremony celebrating and when I came back with the trophy I even got flowers from some customers.
“I absolutely love what I do and everyone at the Crab. We are a real family and call ourselves ‘Tina and the crabbies! The Crab is a beautiful pub and we are all so proud to work here”.
Peter Hebblethwaite, business unit director for Old English Inns, said:
“Picking a winner from the many hard-working team members we have up and down the country was a daunting task, but Fran stood out. Described by her colleagues and manager as ‘dedicated, energetic and wonderful’, she supported her manager Tina during a very difficult time and goes above and beyond to look after the Crab’s customers. She is a very worthy winner.”
Article continues below this advertisement
Photographed L-R: Paul Cahill, business development manager for Old English Inns with Francine Henderson, assistant manager at The Crab and Tina Derbyshire, manager of The Crab
