Search is on for the perfect pub

v
	l Antony Worrall-Thompson
	l Brian Blessed
	l Philippa Forrester
	l Tim Hampson

October 12, 2006: It's time to vote for the UK's ‘perfect’ pub in the fourth annual Greene King Abbot Ale Perfect Pubs Award, run in conjunction with the Daily Telegraph, Classic FM and The Publican magazine.

The competition was launched this week with a closing date of January 31 2007. To vote, go to www.perfectpubs.co.uk or look out for entry forms in your pub and further information in The Daily Telegraph and on Classic FM.

The awards are broader this year with four categories, each judged by well-known celebrities as well as independent judges from the board of Cask Marque and members of the editorial team from The Publican.

The categories are:

l Perfect Food Pub - Antony Worrall-Thompson will use his expertise and culinary knowledge to judge this.

l Perfect Pub Host - Brian Blessed, larger-than-life personality, will select the winner.

l Perfect Family Pub - Philippa Forrester’s charismatic and delightful charm sees her as the perfect parent to judge this category.

l Perfect Cask Ale Pub - who better qualified in this category than Tim Hampson, renowned Cask ale expert.

Of the four finalists, one pub will be crowned Britain’s overall Abbot Ale Perfect Pub for 2007. Pubs can be nominated in more than one category. Most pub awards are voted for by the industry but this is a rare occasion when drinkers have the chance to vote, which makes it the true test of a really great pub.

This year, the Halfway House, in Langport, Somerset, was voted Britain’s ultimate public house. Julian Litchfield, whose family has managed the pub since 1992, said: “It’s absolutely lovely being Britain’s ‘perfect pub’. It’s been fantastic for us.

"We’ve always been busy, but we’ve seen a significant increase in people through our door, and it’s all thanks to winning the competition and having us on the front page of the Telegraph Weekend. It’s been a huge boost to trade with both existing customers and new ones seeing the coverage.

"It’s great that Greene King created something like this. I’ve been drinking their beer since I lived in Cambridge in 1966, and I’m still a big fan.”