Admiral Taverns names its Community Pub of the Year

The Silver Oyster in Colchester has been named as the 2025 Leased & Tenanted Community Pub of the Year by owner Admiral Taverns. 

The community pub company, which owns over 1,400 pubs across England, Scotland and Wales, crowned the Essex site after it raised £30,000 for various charities over the last 12-months.

At the end of July, Ian Ronayne, managing director at Admiral Taverns (pictured above left), visited The Silver Oyster to present the licensees Peter Gibbins and Amethyst Winkler (right and middle) with a certificate, flowers and a bottle of champagne.

"On behalf of the whole team at Admiral Taverns, I would like to thank Peter and Amethyst for their phenomenal contribution to their local community," says Ronayne. "I’m truly in awe of their fantastic efforts and delighted that we’ve been able to recognise their hard work."

Three years in the making

Gibbins and Winkler took over The Silver Oyster in 2022, having spent the last 20 years running another nearby local pub which they remain in charge of. 

The duo have invested approximately £90,000 into the pub to ensure it offers residents a vibrant social hub that brings people together and supports all aspects of local life.

Since taking over three years ago, the licensees have successfully raised over £100,000 for several important causes, including local residents in need, Macmillan, Guide Dogs, Dementia UK and many more.  

"We feel genuinely honoured and extremely proud to have been given this award," says Gibbins. "Everything we do is with the community in mind and it’s been a real privilege spending the last few years at The Silver Oyster. We’ve truly loved every minute of it and are so grateful for all the support we have received. None of this would have been possible otherwise, so from the bottom of our hearts, thank you to everyone who has shown up for us – it means the world."

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