Pub Awards: Best Live Entertainment WInner - The Hare & Hounds, Birmingham

The Hare & Hounds is a thriving entertainment venue and very much the community hub for Kings Heath.

It is hugely respected locally and further afield for excellent live music, essentially jazz, soul, indie artists, and DJ club nights.

The pub attracts bands from all over Europe, all of which want to play at the pub, so they have invested in sound desks, lights, new monitors, amps and DJ equipment for both upstairs venues. Hospitality for bands is excellent, with each venue having shower facilities and a lounge.

Greene King

Adam Regan, a former DJ, record label owner and events promoter, has owned the Greene King lease for 10 years ago and the success of the venue is driven by a full-time marketer, who maintains the website and oversees the social media, and two experienced people who work on the programming, sound and production.

Diversifying the offer has boosted awareness and turnover (£1.2m) with the Saturday afternoon Blue Club and innovative community events, including Food Assembly Tuesday (a weekly food co-operative), food pop-ups with street food traders taking over the kitchen, and several lively community street parties.

York Road is closed for the day, making way for vintage stalls, artisan makers, street food traders, record stalls, family entertainment, and a stage with live swing music and other acts.