The Independent Hotel Show collaborated with our partner, AA Media and interviewed Tom Ross, CEO, THE PIG Hotel Group: winner of the AA Sustainable Award in 2023. The PIG Hotel Group is a collection of stylish, country house hotels that offer a relaxed and luxurious escape. With locations nestled in some of Britain's most beautiful countryside, each PIG hotel is a celebration of its surroundings, offering guests a unique blend of contemporary comfort and rustic charm.

Can you tell us a little about the history of The PIG Group?
THE PIG was born in 2010 when our founder, Robin Hutson, walked into a rather unloved Kitchen Garden in a hotel outside Brockenhurst in the New Forest. He started imagining it as a new style of country hotel that could be accessible to lots of people rather than being super high-end – a place that was homey, informal, comfortable and unshiny, serving simple but delicious homegrown food. THE PIG was really a restaurant with rooms rather than a hotel, with flavoursome dishes using Kitchen Garden produce and the best ingredients from small, local suppliers. Over the years, we’ve slowly welcomed more PIGs into the fold and each one is totally unique, with their own personal character. They’re all carefully chosen, historic buildings rooted in the English countryside, and each one has required patience, attention to detail and a whole lot of love to breathe new life back into it. What makes them a family is that they all follow exactly the same ethos as the very first PIG: everything is centred around the Kitchen Garden, and we look after the land and support the community as best we can to leave it in as good, if not better, shape than we found it.

What does a great customer experience look like at The PIG Group, and what makes it unique?
A great customer experience is genuine, thoughtful and well executed and that is what we try and do every day. I don’t think the PIG is unique, but we try and give that experience in a relaxed informal and friendly manner in an environment that feels more like a home than a hotel.

What do you think defines an independent hotel?
A freedom of thought and lack of a corporate fingerprint. We have a small family of PIGs (with a few more on the way), and at our core we’re still committed to the million details: supporting local causes and championing small suppliers and homegrown produce unique to each PIG.

How are you approaching the issue of sustainability?
It’s been part and parcel of the way we do things since day one, and we still ask ourselves the question every day. Our main job is to make sure guests have the most delicious, fun and relaxing time with us, but we also want to make sure we are making good, thoughtful decisions that help to support communities, source responsibly and protect the environment. We became B Corp certified this summer, which is about always working to be better together as a team, and we are committed to be a force for good in the hospitality industry.  

How do you approach creating your menus and sourcing food and drink suppliers?
As independently as possible. Each PIG has freedom to create their own menu, and we adhere to our 25-mile menu – anything we can’t grow or rear ourselves is carefully sourced from small suppliers within a 25-mile radius. Behind our bars, we work with small distilleries, local brands founded by friends and family, and we’re big lovers and champions of English wine (so much so that we’re making our own). 

Are there any innovative products or services you have implemented in your establishment that you would recommend to other hoteliers?
Beekeeping and producing our own honey (we started off with just a couple of hives at THE PIG in the New Forest in 2012, and now we have around 80 hives and counting across our hotels. No two jars of honey ever taste the same!). We’re also growing our own vines to make a house wine which is a really exciting process.

Want to learn more about The PIG Hotel Group? View the website and all the hotels available to visit here. 

The 2024 AA Hospitality Awards are taking place on Monday 23 September. To find out more, visit the AA Hospitality Awards site. 

Register for Independent Hotel Show taking here and get ready to listen to a variety of live interviews from other incredible hotels throughout the two day seminar programme.