FIVE venues in Reading have received accreditation denoting a dedication to safety and standards in the town centre.
The Best Bar None (BBN) scheme has welcomed the new venues, who passed their audits in recent weeks.
Back of Beyond, Hope Tap, Market House, Popworld, and Angel Bar have received BBN accreditation, demonstrating their continuous work towards responsible management and social responsibility in the night-time economy.
Audit dates have also been set for two further venues: The Boundary and The Last Crumb.
It follows a rigorous audit process, which assesses how well the venues adhere to industry standards, their commitment to ongoing improvements, sharing of good practises with others, and measures to improve safety for staff and customers.
Those joining the scheme become part of its aims to promote Reading as a safe and vibrant place to visit at night as well as address alcohol-related crime and anti-social behaviour issues.
It also works to build a positive relationship between licensed trade, police, local authorities, and the private sector.
Members co-operate on improving knowledge and skills of enforcement and regulation agencies, licensees, and bar staff to help them responsibly manage licensed premises, and highlight how operating more responsibly can improve the profitability of an individual business and attractiveness of a general area.
Best Bar None was piloted in Manchester in 2003 to address issues of crime and disorder in and around licensed premises.
Since then, schemes have been set up in towns and cities across the UK and Best Bar None has been adopted by some international locations.
The voluntary scheme sees venue managers put their premises forward to participate and agree to have a prearranged audit to have their in-house policies, procedures, staff training records, and adherence to licence conditions examined by an external auditor and RBC Licensing Officers.
The auditor will conduct an inspection and award marks against a set criteria, with extra points awarded for the adoption of local initiatives.
These include attendance at anti-terrorist training, active participation in Pubwatch meetings, Ask for Angela campaigns, and WAVE training.
Auditing is funded by the Reading Business Improvement District.
Bill Donne, Best Bar None’s coordinator in Reading, said: “Congratulations to the venues who have been given accreditation this week for meeting the national standards.”
