Regent Inns Best Bar None triumph
Walkabout operator Regent Inns has come up trumps at Birmingham's inaugural Best Bar None pub and clubs accreditation awards.
Regent's Bar Risa bagged a hat trick of gongs — the overall Best Bar None, Best Nightclub, and the Listeners' Award from radio station BRMB. Walkabout won Best City Centre Bar.
The awards judge venues on the steps they have taken to act responsibly. including measures to stop underage sales and sales to drunks.
Other winners were:
* Best Suburban Bar — Joe's Bar, University of Birmingham
* Best Suburban Pub — The Junction, Harborne
* Best City Centre Pub — Old Contemptibles
* Best Hotel Bar — Holiday Inn, Smallbrook Queensway
* Most Improved Venue — Three Horseshoes, Stirchley
Bacardi Brown-Forman Brands and Poppleston Allen Training were among the event partners.
Jacqui Kennedy, director of regulatory services at Birmingham City Council, told guests at the awards ceremony: "Congratulations to Bar Risa and all those venues that were short-listed and accredited.
"These awards are about celebrating the best of Birmingham's licensed premises and applauding the partnership working and commitment that make Birmingham a 'global city with a local heart'.
"Birmingham is a great and safe city for visitors, businesses and residents and the success of our first Best Bar None is testament to those who live and work here.
"Birmingham Best Bar None has been an ambitious project from day one, seeking to reflect the excellent standards across the whole of our great city, not just our vibrant city centre.
"I believe this is the first time a city our size has attempted a city-wide scheme. I also understand that this is the first scheme to recognise the role played by our hotel bars in contributing to economic prosperity in the city."
