MAGAZINE

Countrywide acclaim

As I sit and write this greeting to our April 2023 issue, the Pub & Bar team have just finished selecting the 94 County Winners of this year’s National Pub & Bar Awards – we’ve looked at hundreds of businesses, all varying in style, offer and USPs, and eventually arrived at an incredible list of nearly 100 exemplary operations (which you can find here).

Of course, as the reputation of the awards – and what they can do for a venue’s sales – has grown, so too has the quality of entries submitted for the event. Each year, it’s easy to assume a potential repeat in submission from a number of operators, but time and time again we are bowled over by the fresh details provided, stories told and cases made when it comes to the finest pubs and bars across the UK.

We’re often asked what the criteria are for an awards with a capacity for such diversification in each entry. Well, the answer is we try to look at every touch point across the entire hospitality journey. It doesn’t matter if the business in question is a wet-led cocktail bar with 15 covers, or a countryside gastropub with its own boutique glamping pods – while the offers can be a million miles apart, the fundamentals of on-trade experiences can be equally compared from place to place. What training and staff wellbeing incentives are in play? What’s the online presence like? How considered is the sourcing of products (food and/or drink)? What investment has gone into the site? What marketing methods are carried out? And let’s not forget about the toilets – perhaps the biggest afterthought across the sector and often the area where a pub’s score goes down the drain. 

To be honest, having to compare and, ultimately, critique so many brilliant businesses is as much of a challenge as it is an honour. A County Winner’s selection can come down to the finest margins and that’s before the Regional Winners and overall National Pub & Bar of the Year are decided. However, you’ll have to wait until 28 June to find out which venues have won those titles.

Tristan O’Hana - Editor