Chesterfield Best Bar None Celebrate “Safer Night-Time Economy”

The annual Chesterfield Best Bar None awards celebrating the achievements of 37 pubs, bars, clubs and restaurants took place earlier this month at the SMH Group Stadium

This year, restaurants were also invited to take part for the first time, widening the opportunity for even more venues to demonstrate high standards, responsible management and safe socialising.

National Pubwatch Regional Representative Paul Horton BEM joined Sylvia Oates National Scheme Manager Best Bar None, to present the awards.

The local BBN awards were introduced into the town in 2024, by Chesterfield Borough Council, in partnership with Best Bar None, Chesterfield Pubwatch and Derbyshire Police. The same year Chesterfield Pubwatch, were crowned ‘Pubwatch of the year’ at the prestigous National Pubwatch Awards, held in the House of Lords.

The close involvement of Chesterfield Pubwatch in their local BBN scheme, mirrors the work taking place between National Pubwatch and Best Bar None schemes at a national level.
Pubwatch and Best Bar None are the two most significant schemes working in pubs and clubs throughout the UK.

Chairman of National Pubwatch, Steve Baker OBE said, “I like to think of pubwatch as a licensee led forum, which tries to identify and deal with the threats to their venues. You can never be absolutely sure who might walk through a pub door, but by working closely with other stakeholders and sharing intelligence you will be much better placed to develop positive strategies to deal with problem individuals”.

“I see BBN accreditation as a positive way to introduce good practice improvements in the management processes of individual venues”

“There is obviously some overlap in what we do; for example, we both have an emphasis on the need for good practice policies and staff training, but we recognise that the different focus of our schemes and complimentary nature of our partnership work has very clear benefits for people working and socialising in the night-time economy”.

Chairman of Best Bar None, the Lord Smith of Hindhead, Philip Smith said, “Chesterfield’s success, shows exactly what can be achieved when Best Bar None and National Pubwatch work side by side. Our schemes share similar objectives: safer venues, safer streets and safer nights out for everyone. Congratulations to everyone in Chesterfield who made this possible, and my thanks to National Pubwatch for its continued partnership in driving up standards across the country”.