The competition saw Toby team members from all 172 restaurants go head to head to find the UK’s top front of house servers, and back of house carvers. 24 regional winners we’re selected and then competed at the grand final hosted at Mitchells & Butlers Head Office in Birmingham.

With two final categories up for contention – Server of the Year & Carver of the Year, the contestants were put through their paces over several rounds, which included a carve-off, a quick-fire selling round and a ‘Who’s Who’ guest profile quiz.

After a tense final and strong deliberation from the judges, Chris Head from Toby Carvery Harlow was crowned ‘Carver of the Year’ and received £1000 in recognition of his achievement.

Gary Purser, general manager of Toby Carvery Harlow, says ‘We so pleased of Chris and his accomplishment of being named Toby Carvery’s very first ‘Carver of the Year’! Chris is such a valued member of the team and to have his talents recognised by Toby Carvery in this competition is amazing.

“The competition is a great way to highlight the great work our team do – we put so much into our employees’ training & development, creating individual plans for each and every one, that to see one of our team members come out top across the entire nation is an astounding achievement.

Chris Head, Toby Carvery’s ‘Carver of the Year’, says ‘I’m absolutely thrilled to have won the very first ‘Carver of the Year’ award, and I’m so pleased I entered and made sure I challenged and pushed myself in each and every round.

“For all those looking to work in hospitality, I would definitely recommend Toby Carvery. Internal competitions like ‘Toby’s Got Talent’ shows that it’s not just another day job – you’re constantly encouraged to keep pushing yourself and further your own development, which helps improve your skills and abilities for the future.”

‘Toby’s Got Talent’ is an internal competition in which all employees of Toby Carvery can enter and have their talents recognised alongside fellow servers and carvers across the entire UK.