One of the winning pubs was the Bell Inn, Romney Marsh, Kent, which received the brand new ‘Doom Bar Beer Garden’ equipment to refresh the beer garden which included a ‘Doom Bar boat love seat’, made of refurbished boats and branded deck chairs.
Licensee of the Bell Inn, Vanda Rolfe, who has been running the pub with her husband Mark for the past 10 years, received the pub garden equipment at the beginning of June and explained Doom Bar is the biggest selling brand at the venue.
She said: “We’ve stocked it permanently since May 2008 and it is always a popular choice among our locals."
Love seat
She continued: “I first heard of the competition when I saw a picture of the Doom Bar boat love seat on a flyer and instantly knew I wanted to have one in my pub garden!”
The pub also stocks other products from the Molson Coors portfolio such as Carling, Sharp’s Atlantic and Sharp’s Orchard Cider.
The aim of the equipment is to give beer gardens the wow factor, spread social media discussions and word of mouth, in a bid to help drive footfall to the pubs.
Rolfe said she had noticed the difference at her site including a large amount of attention from customers, which has helped increase the sales of Doom Bar.
Raising the profile
She added: “It has certainly raised the profile of Doom Bar in our pub. It was a quality prize through and through, and it has been a massive benefit to our business.”
Senior brand manager at Sharp’s Brewery James Nicholls explained the beer company was delighted the furniture had proved to be a success at the Bell Inn.
He said: “The competition was run as part of our reward programme for our Doom Bar stockists across the country and it is great to be able to recognise the loyalty and support of the network of pubs we work with.”
Earlier this month (October), a Great British Pub Award finalist won Britain's Best Beer Garden 2016.