2021 Great British Pub Awards entry is now open

By Nikkie Thatcher

- Last updated on GMT

Enter now: pubs can put themselves forward for the awards from today
Enter now: pubs can put themselves forward for the awards from today

Related tags Great british pub awards Events Sport Food

This year’s Great British Pub Awards (GBPA) are back with a bang for 2021 and we’re looking for the best in the business to help celebrate and highlight how important pubs are to the country.

After a challenging 18 months, consumers have realised how much they’ve missed the pub, and we’re looking to maintain that profile by reminding the entire country just how great the sector is by hunting down the top operators across the UK.

  • If you’re running a fantastic business, then you need to enter the awards for free by clicking here​.

Known as ‘the pub Oscars’, the Great British Pub Awards is the biggest and best celebration of pubs in the trade and an amazing chance for licensees to showcase their strengths alongside being in the running to win a prize that can add massively to their bottom line.

Previous winners have reported huge benefits from a win, including a significant increase in media attention with another licensee hailing their win as a “dream come true” and boosting turnover in some cases by almost 50%.

Huge tangible benefits

Ed Bedington, head judge and editor of The Morning Advertiser​, which organises the awards, said: “This competition is a must entry for every great pub operator out there. It allows us to showcase and celebrate the best in the business, generate a great buzz around the sector, and add real value to the pubs that are shortlisted in the awards.

“We’ve seen winners claim huge tangible benefits from entering the awards, from a boost in profile, recognition for their teams, through to adding to the bottom line with increased footfall. If you think you’re running a fantastic pub, then this is the competition you need to enter.”

With 10 categories open for entry, there’s an opportunity for every licensee to be crowned the winner and reap the rewards.

The categories are:

  • Best Pub for Dogs
  • Best Pub for Families
  • Best Pub for Food
  • Best Pub for Late Night
  • Best Pub Garden
  • Best Pub to Watch Sport
  • Best Pub with Rooms
  • Community Hero
  • Best Pub Chef
  • Best Young Pub Chef

Last year’s awards focused on selflessness and community spirit and were held virtually. We have taken inspiration from this to create an all new event for 2021.

New format

This year’s awards will be a new hybrid format including a livestream awards ceremony and an overall GBPA winners event.

Bedington added: “We received such great feedback from last year’s event that we decided to make this year’s awards a combination of online and face to face.

“We are always blown away by the incredible operators we see, up and down the country in how they bring communities together and this past year has shown pubs to be even more crucial in the areas they are located in.

“This year we are aiming to put bums on seats and pride in teams across the nation by recognising, rewarding and celebrating the fantastic work pubs do.”

The entry deadline is Friday 18 June. Enter here​ for free now.

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