Great British Pub Awards: preview
Thursday, September 13, 2012 at 14:28 Looking forward to the Great British Pub Awards in London tonight.
This is the third year that we have supported the category now known as Best Smoking Area.
When we first got involved it was called Best Creative Outdoor Area but I thought it needed a more direct association with smoking in order to highlight the importance of smokers to the pub industry.
The change of name took place last year. I'm not going to pretend that we were inundated with entries but the category did showcase some excellent facilities.
We selected our finalists from around the country and two stood out from the rest. The winner, however, was the landlord who made no secret of the fact that her outdoor area had been designed specifically to accommodate smokers so that they felt comfortable and part of the pub environment.
In contrast, one entry offered a superb outdoor area (with water feature!) but their application made no mention of smokers, or smoking.
This year there are six finalists who will each be represented at tonight's black tie event. Venue is The Hilton Park Lane, compere is comedian Jason Manford, and the fun starts at 7.00pm. Diehards will be partying long after midnight because the event is not scheduled to finish until 2.00am.
PS. Yes, I know the winner of the Best Smoking Area 2012 but my lips are sealed. All will be revealed tomorrow.
Reader Comments (1)
"The winner, however, was the landlord who made no secret of the fact that her outdoor area had been designed specifically to accommodate smokers so that they felt comfortable and part of the pub environment."
That's a pub that deserves support. I do hope it's in my area. If not, it'd be a great to organise a party at whatever pub it is to enable us all to get together and personally say thanks for thinking of us by putting our cash behind the bar.