Wrexham’s night time economy celebrated at ‘Best Bar None’ awards – Ironworks crowned overall winner!

Wrexham.com for people living in or visiting the Wrexham area

This article is old - Published: Thursday, Nov 15th, 2018

Local licensees were celebrated last night for the work they carry out ensuring Wrexham’s night time economy remains safe a place for visitors.

The annual ‘Best Bar None’ awards ceremony, which took place at Maesgwyn Hall, saw 13 town centre venues participating in categories for the likes of Best Bar, Best Pub, Best Restaurant and Best Club.

Best Bar None Wrexham is part of the national voluntary Best Bar Scheme for night time venues, designed to keep staff and customers safe while recognising excellence in their industry via a ‘rigorous audit’ of over 120 criteria covering everything from responsible and safe management to customer care.

Participating licensees are encouraged to act responsibly and take pride in their premises and surroundings and, in doing so, put something back into their town and local communities. The scheme culminates annually in an awards ceremony which celebrates the achievement of all of the premises.

The scheme is ran in partnership with North Wales Police, North Wales Fire and Rescue Service and Wrexham County Borough Council and aims to reduce alcohol-related incidents by raising the standards of licensed premises and building positive relationships among all stakeholders which include operators of licensed premises and their staff.

The scheme is open to town centre premises, with 13 venues participating this year with the final assessments taking place in October 2018.

During November, a judging panel met to consider each application and decided the winners across four categories namely Best Bar, Best Pub, Best Restaurant and Best Club, and an overall winner of Best Bar None 2018.

This year’s winners are:

• Best Bar None Wrexham Overall Winner – Ironworks, Wrexham
• Best Bar – Ironworks, Wrexham
• Best Club – Atik, Wrexham
• Best Pub – The Fat Boar, Wrexham
• Best Restaurant – Frankie and Benny’s, Wrexham

All premises that enter the Best Bar None Awards Scheme are audited by trained assessors and, if successful, will become an accredited member of the scheme achieving either a Gold, Silver or Bronze award.

The top premises are then put before an independent judging panel, who select the winners in each category.

Cllr Hugh Jones, lead member for communities, partnerships, public protection and community safety said: “Participation in the Best Bar None Scheme is voluntary and requires a great deal of commitment and hard work from all of the participants and therefore this makes the decision regarding the “Best Of” categories quite a challenge.

“All pubs, bars, clubs and restaurants in the scheme should be commended for the work they are doing to make Wrexham a safe place”