BARS, pubs and clubs across Wrexham have been recognised for their excellence in the industry.

Licensees from across the county borough attended the Best Bar None awards ceremony at Maesgwyn Hall, Wrexham.

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 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 overall winner was Ironworks, who also won best bar. Best club went to Atik, best pub went to The Fat Boar and Frankie and Benny’s picked up best restaurant.

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”