2018 Best Bar None Award Winners Announced
The New Foresters has been crowned the Overall Winner of the Nottingham city centre Best Bar None Awards for the second year running. It has also won the award for Best Independent Venue, again for the second consecutive year.
Located on St Ann’s Street, the New Foresters caters for the LGBQT community. The venue received top scores in its assessment and was particularly praised by the judges for its passion and enthusiasm. They also noted that staff are valued like members of the family and customers are cared for to a standard over and above the level generally expected. In addition it was evident to the judges that safety is regarded as paramount.
The Best Bar None Awards are designed to promote the responsible and effective management and operation of licensed premises. The scheme has been run in Nottingham city centre by the Nottingham Business Improvement District (BID) since 2010 and is being sponsored by licensing law specialists Poppleston Allen for the second consecutive year.
This year a total of 85 Nottingham city centre establishments have succeeded in gaining Best Bar None accreditation which is a record number, with 76 of these receiving the top gold award and the remaining nine securing the silver award.
The highest scoring accredited venues in the assessments were independently judged by industry experts, with a winner being chosen in seven categories as well as an overall winner. The other winners were as follows:
- Best Bar : Faradays
- Best Club : INK
- Best Cocktail Bar : The Alchemist
- Best Entertainment Venue : Grosvenor Casino
- Best Pub : Pit & Pendulum
- Best Restaurant : Annie’s Burger Shack
Debbie Law who runs the New Foresters said: “We won three awards last year so we really didn’t expect to win any this year. I was overwhelmed that we won one award, let alone two. It’s not all about me or my staff but about my customers.”
Andrew Crawford, a director of Nottingham BID, said: “Congratulations to New Foresters on being crowned Overall Winner for the second year running. This is a massive achievement. It reflects just how important they regard safety and all the measures that they take to ensure that the venue is well managed and operated for the benefit of staff and customers.”
“This year’s scheme has been a great success with a record number of venues receiving accreditations and gold rankings and I would like to congratulate all the venues that have secured accreditation as well as the winners.”
“Congratulations to all those who entered these awards,” said James Anderson, a partner at Poppleston Allen. “The overall standard was extremely high in all categories, reflecting the huge effort that many of Nottingham’s venues put into managing their operations responsibly. And of course, enormous congratulations to the New Foresters for their double win for the second consecutive year which truly is a fantastic achievement.”
Mick McDonnell, national Best Bar None co-ordinator said: “It’s absolutely fantastic to see these sort of numbers in the Nottingham city scheme and increasing year on year.”
“Having 76 venues achieving the gold standard only reinforces the commitment of local businesses to achieving the highest standards to ensure that Nottingham city not only has a vibrant Night time Economy but is also recognised as safe area for residents of the city and visitors to enjoy.”
“I would personally like to thank the venues, Nottingham BID, the police and local authority for working together in partnership. It just goes to show what can be achieved by the collective mind. Well done to everyone involved.”
