Member Article

Newcastle Pub Shortlisted for National Awards

Almost a year after winning ‘Retailer of the Year Award’, Newcastle’s award-winning City Tavern has been shortlisted from 1300 pubs across the UK in three categories of Heineken’s annual Star Pubs and Bars awards.

This year City Tavern has been shortlisted in both the ‘Team Training’ and ‘Pint Perfection’ categories and will also be defending its current title in the ‘Retailer of the Year’ category.

This is great news for City Tavern’s operator David King, managing director of Bar Hound Ltd, whose ambition when taking on the pub was to establish it as a food-led pub offering craft ales.

Since that initial aim, continuing to attract an eclectic mix of customers, King and his team have worked tirelessly to transform the pub and position it as a destination bar. Despite competition from national chains which continue to spring up in the city centre, City Tavern continues to enjoy a significant increase in turnover and profitability.

Regularly reviewing its offering, City Tavern has raised the bar across all aspects of the business. The pub boasts 10 cask ales three of which are brewed specially for Bar Hound. It has also significantly increased the number of spirits it offers in direct response to customer demand. King puts this down to a number of factors. He said:

“I am delighted to have been shortlisted for a second year in three categories. I believe our success is down to that fact that we invest heavily in staff training, continually monitor what is on trend with regard to both food and drink which allows us to respond to the discerning tastes of our growing customer base and we work hard to stand out from our competitors. “

In the ‘Team Training’ category the judges will be looking for the pub that best demonstrates driving sales and standards through team training and staff development.

With regard to ‘Pint Perfection’ the judges are looking to see whether the range of brands offered are appropriate for the pub, that staff possess detailed knowledge of the brands and that the quality of both the product and how it is served meet with brewery standards.

Finally, in the ‘Retailer of the Year’ category the judges are looking for innovative retailers who can spot an opportunity and are unafraid of trying new ideas to increase profits.

The award ceremony will take place in London in November.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Rosie Bellerby .