PUBLICAN Janet Ostler says winning a lifetime achievement award was ‘bittersweet’ after her husband was diagnosed with prostate cancer just weeks before the presentation.

Janet and her husband, Michael, have run The Red Cow, in Brent Knoll, since 1980 and have been running pubs for 50 years.

The couple were looking forward to picking up a lifetime achievement award at the Ei Group Awards for Excellence but couldn’t attend as Michael had to go to hospital for chemotherapy.

“We were amazed we got the award, we didn’t know a long time before that we had won it,” Janet said.

“Unfortunately on the day of the awards Michael had to go and have his first round of chemotherapy as he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. We couldn’t go so our daughter and son picked them up for us. It was quite bittersweet for us really.”

A spokesman for Ei Group said the couple was nominated for the award as they run The Red Cow to an ‘extremely high standard’ and they are ‘wonderful ambassadors’ to the pub industry.

Janet said the couple are now working with their son, Andrew, and daughter, Helen, to carry on their legacy and have been teaching them everything they need to know to keep the family business running.

“We have taken a bit of a backwards step of late,” Janet said. “We live in a rural community and there are many families among people that we know. Michael has still been at work and everyone has been so supportive of us since his diagnosis.”

Ei Group chief executive Simon Townsend said the couple’s award is well-deserved and thanked them for their hard work.

“Michael and Janet have consistently shown passion, commitment and energy in running The Red Cow for so many years,” Simon said.

“Their knowledge of the industry and their business is second to none and this accolade is incredibly well-deserved.

“They, like some of our other long-serving publicans, have seen some challenging times in an industry which is ever-changing and we want to celebrate those who’ve shown the motivation to remain at the heart of their pub. We saw an impressive number of applications and our judges were struck by the extraordinary levels of dedication and commitment demonstrated by every publican that entered or who was nominated for an award.”