Pub Awards: Best Live Entertainment finalist - Two Brewers, Clapham, London

It’s a late-night venue, with the daytime spent getting the Party and Club Bars ready for the night’s entertainment.

Manager of 20 years Jimmy Smith and his long-serving team are passionate about the place and their combined experience makes the venue run like clockwork. The Two Brewers is Stonegate’s second most profitable bar (behind Salsa), with turnover up £400,000 to £2.5m for year-end April 2016.

Although they don’t need to advertise, they have invested significantly in promoting the venue and events on social media, through their website, and do advertise in LGBT publications.

Investment

Investment in maintaining the interior is significant – £75,000 over the past two years – and the annual spend on entertainment is around £60,000. Drag Idol was developed 12 years ago, and 12 full-time acts now tour 18 venues, with talent scouts from Britain’s Got Talent​ visiting to select acts for the TV show. There are nightly cabaret acts, karaoke, competitions, Halloween shows, dance shows and regular pantomimes.

Their biggest event is the annual Clapham Street Party – a big event attracting 3,000 people. There are 26 cabaret acts during a day of partying which involves the whole community, including the church next door and the police. Plans for 2017 include a karaoke competition, drag comedy acts and a roof terrace.