Hawksmoor, Living Ventures, Be At One, Beds and Bars, Novus Leisure and The Luminar Group were winners in the first ALMR Late Night Awards for the bar and club industry.
The ceremony, called Dusk ‘Til Dawn, was held last night at Café de Paris in London’s West End, organised by the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers (ALMR) after its merger last year with club industry body BEDA.
The Bacchus award for the most imaginative drinks selection and presentation was won by The Alchemist in the Trinity Leeds development (pictured). Opened earlier this year, it is the second site for the bar and restaurant concept from Living Ventures. Its drinks include the Dry Iced Tea, a deconstructed Iced Tea combining vodka, rum, gin and orange liqueur with a lemon and sugar mix and a dash of soda, served in a glass teapot with dry ice to make it look like it is steaming.
The Culinary award for the finest late-night snacks was won by Hawksmoor, the four-strong group of steakhouses and cocktail bars in London. At its Spitalfields site, bar food includes ox cheek nuggets, pig’s head poutine and peanut butter shortbread with salted caramel ice cream.
The Red Carpet award for total hospitality and customer care was won by Be At One Group for its cocktail bar in Clapham Common, London, which is one of 17 sites in London and Reading.
The Skills and Smiles award for service standards, knowledge and staff development went to Beds and Bars, which operates Belushi’s bars, St Christopher’s hostels and pubs.
The Entertainment award for providing shows with the “wow factor” was won by Cameo in Bournemouth, part of The Luminar Group.
The Full House award for innovative and effective marketing, went to Novus Leisure, operator of bars across London and Tiger Tiger. It recognised its development of the Late Night London brand, including a website promoting its London venues.
ALMR strategic affairs director Kate Nicholls said: “The ALMR Late Night Awards celebrate the best of the late night economy, recognising innovation, quality and investment in this often-overlooked sector of our trade.
“We are delighted to be able to continue the work done by BEDA to champion late-night retailers and celebrate the diversity and vibrancy of this incredibly important part of the industry.
“The standard of the nominees was incredibly high and this made for some very difficult choices for our expert judging panel but this just reflects the phenomenal standards on offer across the modern late night economy.
“We are incredibly proud to champion these outstanding retailers. Congratulations to all our winners and we look forward to seeing the dynamism, innovation and entrepreneurial spirit that drove their successes expanded upon even further next year.”
The awards and the Dusk ‘Til Dawn event were sponsored by wine supplier Enotria, drinks group Diageo GB, CPL Training, beer and cider company Heineken, energy drink brand Red Bull and soft drinks group Britvic.
Judges included Kate Nicholls and John Hayes, ALMR council member and former chair of BEDA. Others included Daniel Davies of CPL Training, Les Murphy of Heineken, Gareth Hess of Diageo and Mark Ludmon, editor of Bar magazine.
Complete list of winners and nominees
The Culinary
WINNER: Hawksmoor
Inventive Leisure
Living Ventures Group
Loungers
Novus Leisure
The Bacchus
WINNER: The Alchemist, Leeds (Living Ventures Group)
Cribbar, Newquay (JD Wetherspoon)
Koba, Brighton
Draft House Lordship, London
Moka, Crawley, West Sussex (The Luminar Group)
The Folly, London (Drake & Morgan)
Arrivals and Departures
WINNER: Be At One, Clapham Common, London
Cloud 23, Manchester (Hilton Manchester Deansgate)
Liquid, Wrexham, Clywd (Luminar)
Oceana, Southampton (The Luminar Group)
Platinum Lace, London
The Alchemist, Manchester (Living Ventures Group)
Skills and Smiles
WINNER: Beds and Bars
Be At One Group
Inventive Leisure
Living Ventures Group
The Luminar Group
Novus Leisure
Entertainment
WINNER: Cameo, Bournemouth (The Luminar Group)
The Black Dog Ballroom, Manchester
Digital, Brighton (Tokyo Industries)
Fabric, London
Gatecrasher, Birmingham
Liquid, Halifax, West Yorkshire (The Luminar Group)
Full House
WINNER: Novus Leisure for Late Night London
Be At One for its phone app
Liquid, Ashford, Kent (The Luminar Group)
Ministry of Sound, London
Manhattan’s, Long Eaton, Derbyshire
Oceana, Watford (The Luminar Group)
