Representatives from the UK’s leading bars attended the Awards tonight (May 23rd) at Battersea Arts Centre, London, along with internationally renowned industry personalities.
Judged by the CLASS Collective (a group of 100 bar experts from across the country), the CLASS Bar Awards recognises the talent, achievements and diversity of the UK bar scene.
Having launched in 2003, the Class Bar Awards is 20 years old and the UK's longest-running bar awards.
The winners
Schofield’s Bar in Manchester was the choice of the CLASS Collective, winning Best Bar in the North sponsored by The Busker and the nationwide title of Bar of the Year sponsored by Stauning. Opened in spring 2021, Joe and Daniel Schofield’s debut bar set in Manchester’s Sunlight House, has become an instant classic, winning plaudits across the UK. Its period, classy looks – with dark woods and touches of green - and focus on five-star service makes it the UK’s best bar 2023. It is the only the third time since 2003 that a bar has won consecutive Bar of the Year titles.
Elsewhere in the newly launched regional awards, Passing Fancies was voted Best Bar in the Midlands & East Anglia sponsored by The Busker and also New Bar of the Year sponsored by Hapusa Gin, having only launched last autumn by Tommy Matthews, Matt Arnold and Eve Green. The bar is billed as having the casual vibes of a “kitchen at a house party”, but serves ingredient-led cocktails that draw on the latest bar lab techniques. A finalist in this field, Couch in Birmingham, went on to shine in the Emerging Bartender of the Year category sponsored by La Hechicera, with the bar’s Courtney Francis taking the award.
In the Best Bar in Scotland & NI sponsored by The Busker category, Hey Palu took the gong. Alex Palumbo’s stylish Edinburgh cocktail haunt presents a modern take on Italian aperitivo culture, with classic cocktails, warm hospitality and amaro and vermouth aplenty. Finalist in that category, Panda & Sons, didn’t leave empty handed as its owner Iain McPherson took Bar Innovator of the Year sponsored by Paragon, chiefly for his work on his bar’s Transcend menu, which delves into sub-zero flavour creation.
Best Bar in London & the South East sponsored by The Busker saw some heavyweight bars compete, with Satan’s Whiskers coming out top in the vote. At almost a decade old, Kevin Armstrong’s evergreen Bethnal Green classic has mastered the fundamentals – drinks, hospitality and atmosphere – like few others.
Fellow London finalists Tayēr + Elementary and Swift also had their time on stage, both winning awards. Tayēr + Elementary took Bar Food Menu of the Year sponsored by Altamura Vodka for its revolving bevy of cocktail-paired small plates, while Swift took Cocktail of the Year sponsored by Lanique for its famous Irish Coffee, having been a finalist last year.
Meanwhile the Best Bar in Wales & West sponsored by The Busker saw Lab 22 from Cardiff triumph. A beacon of bar culture in Wales, Tani Hasa’s venue has made its name through ever more creative cocktail making. Meanwhile Adam Handling’s Ugly Butterfly in Cornwall was a beaten finalist in this regional category, but did take home the Sustainable Practices Award sponsored by Avallen Calvados, thanks to an approach that places local ingredients on a pedestal, while making an enemy of waste.
Connaught Bar in London once again took the gong for Hotel Bar of the Year sponsored by Everleaf Drinks. Famed for its sparkling art-deco décor, Connaught Bar’s cocktails carefully bridge classicism with modernism, while its service is elevated to an artform.
Elsewhere in the London hotel bar landscape, Donovan Bar’s Cristiana Pirinu was awarded Front of House Star sponsored by Rabbit Hole for her impeccable hosting skills, while the American Bar at the Savoy’s former charge, Mia Kumari, was voted Bartender of the Year sponsored by Savoia Americano. Now at Satan’s Whiskers, the British bartender has seen a meteoric rise, with a series of cocktail competition wins, catapulting her to bar-world stardom.
Ryan Chetiyawardana’s Southbank hotel bar Lyaness at Sea Containers was also among the winners. James Wheeler, who has been integral to much of the bar’s success in recent years, won Bar Manager of the Year sponsored by Italicus, while the bar also took home the trophy for Drinks Menu of the Year sponsored by Franklin & Sons. Lyaness’ Ancestral Cookbook menu goes beyond a cocktail list to explore how food and drink has shaped culture, with five new ingredients created as a base for the 15-cocktail menu.
The award for Specialist Bar of the Year sponsored by Sipello went to Deano Moncrieffe and Emma Murphy’s Hacha – now with sites in Brixton and Dalston - for the second year running. The agaveria offers a chic and contemporary take on Mexican décor and cocktails – not least its former Cocktail of the Year, the Mirror Margarita - a revolving back bar of 25 handpicked agave bottles and authentic Oaxacan food.
The title of Bar Employer of the Year sponsored by The Lost Explorer was awarded to Speakeasy Entertainment, whose stable includes Nightjar, Oriole and Swift. With development plans for every employee in the business, four-day weeks, away days and staff feedback surveys, the group’s 50-plus staff are well looked after. A finalist in this category Junkyard Golf instead won Social Media Presence of the Year sponsored by Villa Sandi, after impressing judges with its laser-targeted campaigns that have brought in real-world customers.
The ceremony climaxed with the Outstanding Contribution Award sponsored by Master of Malt Trade which went to Ian Burrell. The self-titled global rum ambassador has spent almost thirty years in the service of rum, promoting its interests and educating bartenders globally on the spirit’s diversity, authenticity and quality. His work has made an invaluable contribution to the global drinks industry.
Hamish Smith, editor of Class and co-host of the Class Bar Awards, said: “The 78 finalists this year were the strongest and most geographically diverse since we relaunched the Awards in 2017.
"London remains strong but the Bar of the Year is in Manchester again, the New Bar of the Year is in Birmingham, the Bar Innovator of the Year is in Edinburgh and the bar leading sustainable practices is in Cornwall - there are countless other bars up and down the UK propelling the industry forward.
“Not in recent memory has the UK bar scene felt as rich in talent, or as evenly spread. London doesn’t lead the global bar industry anymore, the UK does.”
Finalists by category
Social Media Presence of the Year sponsored by Villa Sandi
(W) Junkyard Golf Club, nationwide sites
Scarfes Bar, London
Cahoots, London
Mr Fogg's, London
Front of House Star of the Year sponsored by Rabbit Hole
(W) Cristiana Pirinu, The Donovan Bar, London
Antonio Galetta, Lyaness, London
Liana Oster, The Nomad Hotel, London
Enzo Sigaut, Beaufort Bar and American Bar at The Savoy, London
Sustainable Practices Award sponsored by Avallen Calvados
(W) Ugly Butterfly, Saint Ives
Henrock, Windermere
The American Bar, Gleneagles Hotel, Auchterarder
Christina's Shoreditch, London
Emerging Bartender of the Year sponsored by La Hechicera
(W) Courtney Francis, Couch, Birmingham
Rebecca Bird, Freelance, Bournemouth
Drew Fleming, Kiki Lounge, Douglas
Ewan Grieve, Lab 22, Cardiff
Bar Manager of the Year sponsored by Italicus
(W) James Wheeler, Lyaness, London
Stefanie Anderson, Gleneagles Townhouse, Edinburgh
Jacob Clarke, Couch, Birmingham
Josh Linfitt, Ugly Butterfly, Saint Ives
Bar Employer of the Year sponsored by The Lost Explorer
(W) Speakeasy Entertainment, London
Kiki Lounge, Douglas
Lab 22, Cardiff
Junkyard Golf Club, London
Cocktail of the Year sponsored by Lanique
(W) Irish Coffee, Swift, London
Coriander Seed Gimlet, Seed Library, One Hundred Shoreditch, London
Buck Fast, Die Young, Lab 22, Cardiff
Kazimir, A Bar With Shapes For A Name, London
Drinks Menu of the Year sponsored by Franklin & Sons
(W) Ancestral Cookbook, Lyaness, London
Theories + Frontiers, Lab 22, Cardiff
Silverleaf Menu, Silverleaf, London
Transcend, Panda & Sons, Edinburgh
Bar Food Menu of the Year sponsored by Altamura Vodka
(W) Tayēr + Elementary, London
Passing Fancies, Birmingham
Side Hustle, Nomad, London
Sterling, Stock Exchange, Manchester
Specialist Bar of the Year sponsored by Sipello
(W) Hacha, London
Hey Palu, Edinburgh
KOL Mezcaleria, London
Ojo Rojo, Bournemouth
Hotel Bar of the Year sponsored by Everleaf Drinks
(W) Connaught Bar, The Connaught, London
Lyaness, Sea Containers, London
American Bar, The Savoy, London
Silverleaf, Pan Pacific, London
Best Bar in the North sponsored by The Busker
(W) Schofield's Bar, Manchester
Tabula Rasa, Leeds
Speak in Code, Manchester
Blinker, Manchester
Best Bar in the Midlands & East Anglia sponsored by The Busker
(W) Passing Fancies, Birmingham
Couch, Birmingham
Fox and Chance, Birmingham
400 Rabbits, Nottingham
Best Bar in Wales & West sponsored by The Busker
(W) Lab 22, Cardiff
Ojo Rojo, Bournemouth
Filthy XIII, Bristol
Ugly Butterfly, Saint Ives
Best Bar in London & the South East sponsored by The Busker
(W) Satan's Whiskers, London
Seed Library, One Hundred Shoreditch, London
Swift, London
Tayēr + Elementary, London
Best Bar in Scotland & Northern Ireland sponsored by The Busker
(W) Hey Palu, Edinburgh
Lucky Liquor, Edinburgh
The Gate, Glasgow
Panda & Sons, Edinburgh
Bar of the Year sponsored by Stauning Whisky
(W) Schofield's Bar, Manchester
New Bar of the Year sponsored by Hapusa Gin
(W) Passing Fancies, Birmingham
Blinker, Manchester
Seed Library, One Hundred Shoreditch, London
Sterling, Manchester
Bartender of the Year sponsored by Savoia Americano
(W) Mia Kumari, Satan's Whiskers/American Bar, The Savoy, London
Rachel Orange, Schofield's Bar, Manchester
Filippos Filippopoulos, Tabula Rasa, Leeds
Tommy Matthews, Passing Fancies, Birmingham
Bar Innovator of the Year sponsored by Paragon
(W) Iain McPherson, Panda & Sons, Edinburgh
Monica Berg and Alex Kratena, Tayēr + Elementary, London
Tommy Matthews, Passing Fancies, Birmingham
Joe and Daniel Schofield, Schofield's Bar, Manchester
