Where does your venue fit in?

WITH ONLY 8 MONTHS UNTIL THE BMAS, APPLICATIONS ARE NOW OPEN TO ALL HOSPITALITY VENUES AND TEAM MEMBERS. WITH AWARD CATEGORIES COVERING EVERYTHING FROM MIXOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT SUCCESS TO MARKETING AND DINING CONCEPTS, DON’T MISS YOUR CHANCE TO LET THE INDUSTRY KNOW HOW AMAZING YOUR VENUE AND TEAM ARE.

It’s important to make one thing very clear from the outset: the BMAs are open to anyone who works within hospitality. Don’t rule yourself out if you think your venue might be too small or isn’t in a high-footfall location. Don’t avoid the limelight because your venue might not have the biggest budget or be at the top of Instagram’s jungle of algorithms. Bar Magazine has always been about success stories, and recognising colleagues in our wonderful industry who ‘punch above their weight’ by inspiring us in achieving success with very little resource. The BMAs are no different. Everyone starts on a completely level playing field, regardless of the budget of your venue and the privileges you do or don’t have – success comes in all shapes and sizes, so although you might think people won’t understand how amazing your achievements are, let us (and our expert panel) be the judges of that!

Our judging panel consists of experts within the hospitality industry, who are bringing a wealth of knowledge to the BMAs and helping us choose who most deserves recognition for their business triumphs. High-ranking members from Diageo, UKHospitality, The Drinks Trust, Licensed Trade Charity and Mercieca will be judging your applications in the following areas:

New Cocktail Creation

An exciting, creative-brief led award for mixologists. To be announced in our May issue!

Best Venue Manager

The success or failure of a venue hinges massively on how competent the manager is. The manager of a hospitality venue can have a positive effect on the business by focusing on anything from tiny, intricate details, to large, wholesale changes to the establishment. Most of all though, understanding their brand and the concept of their offering is key, and we want to highlight managers who excel in this area. Every venue is unique, and all require different things to stand out and shine. We’d love to hear inspirational stories of how you have helped make your business better in 2023.

Best Mixologist

The award for best mixologist brings an element of flair and creativity to the BMAs. We all know the level of precision and passion that mixologists put into their craft, so we’re giving you the chance to show this off to our expert judging panel. If you, or any mixologists you know, create unique, exciting and innovative serves that deserve more recognition, then please tell us! With this category in particular, we are looking for professionals who think outside the box and ‘wow’ their guests with creations that keep them coming back.

Marketing Innovation

Working in such a creative industry means that our flair isn’t limited to food and drink creations. We have seen some venues plan and execute marketing campaigns to the highest-level, and we want to showcase these at the BMAs. Marketing is all about boosting the brand of your business or product – this can be done via unique social media campaigns, promotion in the local area and exciting branding exercises. So many UK venues are operating at high levels every day, but who is doing the best job of letting consumers know and enticing them through your doors?

Best Dining Concept

Hospitality is such a competitive industry, and venues must strive to stand out ahead of the competition. Culinary offerings play a huge part in this, and are a vital way to enhance your wet-led business and bring in more revenue. Our expert panel will be choosing a winner who has used food to boost sales and attract more footfall to their venue. We are looking for exciting dining concepts, which can include anything from fine dining to flavour-packed street food; the key to this award is how your food menu has taken your business to the next level.

Best Venue Interiors

Although it’s a cliché, you never get a second chance to make a first impression. For a hospitality venue, the interior and decoration play a huge part in this. Not only will guests get an intuitive feeling of your establishment’s atmosphere as they take in the design, but in an age where social media rules, giving your venue an ‘Instagrammable’ quality offers free branding opportunities through your customers and their networks. We want to know about your venue’s interior journey – from concept to execution, what were your initial plans for the design and how have you brought them to life?

The Environment Award

Sustainability is the word on everybody’s lips – and rightly so! Hospitality can make such a difference to the way that we treat our planet, and we know that a lot of venues are already very conscious of this and have put plans in place to improve the sustainability of their business. We want to hear your struggles, plans, operations and successes in converting your business into one which is flying the sustainability flag and leading from the front in eco-friendly initiatives.

Success comes in all shapes and sizes

For more information on award categories, please visit www.barmagazine.co.uk/ barmagazineawards