The gala ceremony was attended by 130 licensees, with awards presented by Coronation Street’s Kym Marsh.
Among the 14 categories were gongs for Best Bar Team, Pint Perfection, Team Training and Marketing.
Overall winners
Caygill & Smith’s Barrelhouse Bar & Grill in Edinburgh took home the overall Star Pub of the Year Award after collecting the prize for Best Bar Team category.
The Team Training award went to Hickory’s Smokehouse, while PG Taverns won the Marketing Award for the second time for the Jolly Botanist in Edinburgh.
GBPA 2017 winners
Star’s Graham Anderson and Sharon Stanton, who won the Great British Pub Awards (GBPA) 2017 Family Pub of the Year award for the Eastfield Inn in Bristol earlier this year, also collected the gong for Most Family Friendly pub for the third time at the company’s awards.
Claire Hall won the Famous for Food Award for the Spread Eagle in North Shields, Tyne & Wear, and GPBA finalist Dianne Irving of the White Mare, Beckermet, Cumbria, won the Pint Perfection Award.
Tough competition
Standards at the pub company are higher than ever with its 2017 retail standards scores up 10%, according to an internal survey. Awards judges noted the rise in standards across all categories and said selecting the winner was a tough job with so many skilled operators and great pubs in the Star estate.
Star Pubs & Bars managing director Lawson Mountstevens said: “The Star Awards is one of the high points of our year. It’s inspiring to have so much talent in one room. Like top operators in any sector, they are true entrepreneurs – always pushing the boundaries and experimenting with new ideas to deliver an exceptional experience to British pubgoers.”
Full list of 2017 Star award winners
Best Bar Team
Caygill & Smith, Barrelhouse Bar & Grill, Edinburgh
Live Sports Venue
Blind Tiger Inns, the Talbot, Euxton, Lancashire
Team Training
Hickory’s Smokehouse, Hickory’s Smokehouse at Burton Green, Warwickshire
Heart of the Community
Tony and Michelle Grierson, the Reiver, Carlisle, Cumbria
Famous for Food
Claire Hall, the Spread Eagle, North Shields, Tyne & Wear
Most Family Friendly
Graham Anderson and Sharon Stanton, the Eastfield Inn, Bristol, Gloucestershire
Best Outdoor Pub
Edward O’Neill, the Crown Inn, Farnham Royal, Buckinghamshire
Pint Perfection
Dianne Irving, the White Mare, Beckermet, Lancashire
Best Cask Pub
Wickwar Wessex Pub Company, the Jersey Lily, Bristol, Gloucestershire
Marketing
PG Taverns, Iain Pert, the Jolly Botanist, Edinburgh
Best Use of Social Media
Nick Livingstone, 7 Saints, Prestwick, South Ayrshire
Best Newcomer
John Corbett and Natasha Gleeson, the Rose & Crown, Heston, south-west London
Retailer of the Year
Martyn and Lynda Cripps, the Longboat Inn, Penzance, Cornwall
Star Pub of the Year
Caygill & Smith, Barrelhouse Bar & Grill, Edinburgh