The seventh Best of Broad Street Awards (BOBS) was held on Monday night honouring the best of Birmingham’s Golden Mile.

Hosted by BRMB’s breakfast show duo, Foxy and Giuliano, the glittering awards night at the ICC saw over 400 entertainers, businessmen and entrepreneurs rub shoulders celebrating the achievements of the venues, staff, management and personalities that make Broad Street the entertainment hub of the West Midlands.
Vintage cabaret style entertainment during the evening was provided by The Pin-ups.

There were 22 award categories in total Best Door Crew, Best Best Door Supervisor, Best Police Officer, Best Manager, Best Chef, Best Restaurant, Best Themed Restaurant , Best Casual Dining and Best Overall Venue.

Full list of winners:

The Ritchie Award for Outstanding Contribution and Excellence
Winner: Carmine Sannio

Outstanding Contribution for Broad Street
Winner: James Moreton

Best Door Crew
Winner: Walkabout

Best Door Supervisor
Winner:  Rafal Brezenski Rococo Lounge

Best Neighbourhood Police Officer
Winner: PC Steven Malborn

Best Police Officer
Winner: PC Abdul Rohoman

Safe Night Out
Winner: Rococo Lounge

Best Re Entry
Winner: Bliss

Best Independent
Winner: Oh Velvet Bar

Best Entertainment Performance
Winner: Nuvo Bar
Highly Commended: O’Niells

Best Restaurant sponsored by Birmingham City Centre Partnership
Winner: Pushkar
Highly Commended: Shimla Pinks

Best Manager
Winner: David Cox Grosvenor Casino
Highly Commended: Andy Chapman Bliss

Best Chef
Winner: Simon Bishop Branded Bull
Highly Commended: Steve Hewitt G Casino

Exceeding Customer Expectations
Winner: Mark Dovaston Grosvenor Casino

Best Front of House
Winner: Rai Singh Pushkar
Highly Commended: Shazma Astle Piccolinos

Best Themed Venue
Winner: Sea Life Centre Brindleyplace

Best Local in the City
Winner: O’Neills

Best House Team
Winner: The Figure of Eight

Best Night Out
Winner: Bar Risa & Highlights

Best Casual Dining sponsored by BRMB
Winner: The Obar

Best Overall Venue sponsored by Birmingham Mail
Winner: ICC & Symphony Hall

Best Arts and Entertainment Venue sponsored by Birmingham Post
Winner: Number Nine Gallery

The third edition of the Broad Street Business Improvement District’s publication – The Word – is available now!

In this issue, we celebrate Formula 1 legend Nigel Mansell being honoured on the Walk of Stars, meet new Broad Street tenants, Marketing Birmingham, and find out what has been happening with the building of the new Library of Birmingham.

We also have a chat to the new team at the Hyatt Regency, and discover the tasteful delights of Yo Sushi! in Brindleyplace.  We check out the Ikon Gallery’s programme for 2012 and take a peek at what the new year will bring to the big screens at Cineworld.

Read the latest edition online here - The Word

The National SEA LIFE centre will be holding a one night only Evening Christmas Tour on Friday 16^th December. For £15 per person visitors will be whisked on an exclusive VIP tour around the centre’s stunning tropical displays and enjoy a screening of The Polar Express 4-D Experience in the 4-D Cinema. Mince pies and festive fruit punch will be provided on arrival.  Christmas music will be playing to set the mood, even as visitors are transported to an underwater tropical paradise! Availability is limited, so please book today and the Sea Life team will look forward to offering you a warm welcome.

The Christmas Tour runs from 6.30pm to 830pm on Friday 16^th December, and must be booked in advance.

£40 Family tickets also available for this event.

Birmingham’s Pushkar Cocktail Bar and Dining have reached the final of the 2011 British Curry Awards. Located on Broad Street, the luxury North Indian restaurant has secured this position for a second successive year and head to the star studded award ceremony at Battersea Evolution in London on the 28^th November.

This years British Curry Awards has seen a record number of nominations with over 68,000 from across the UK. All regional finalists and winners will be announced at the final by well-known celebrity Chef, James Martin.

Organisers of the event have teamed up with media partners such as ITN, Star Plus, BBC and the Daily Mirror in a bid to create an amazing spectacle that is set to dazzle all guests on the evening!

Bishal Rasaily, Pushkar’s Head Chef, commented “Its accolades like this I work so hard for and I’m truly honoured by this achievement. Thank you to everyone who has supported Pushkar so far and we hope to bring some silverware back to Birmingham.”

This Sunday (23rd October) will see 15,000 participants take to the streets of Birmingham as part of the Bupa Great Birmingham Run!

The run will take participants on a 13.1 mile journey from the City Centre down Pershore Road to Bournville before doubling back and taking in the sights of Edgbaston Cricket Ground and Cannon Hill park en route back to Broad Street and the finish.

The finish line is on Broad Street, between the Hyatt hotel and Centenary Square. Due to this Broad Street will have traffic restrictions in place on Sunday from 5am until approximately 4pm. These restrictions will run the full length of the street. Traffic diversions will be in place during this time.

A plan detailing the traffic diversions is available here. Please note that all businesses on Broad Street and in Brindleyplace will be open as usual during this time.

NIGHTCLUB PRAISED FOR ‘COMMITMENT TO HEALTH & SAFETY’ AT HOUSE OF LORDS RECEPTION

Gatecrasher Birmingham was crowned Best Bar None’s national winner at a Parliamentary reception in the House of Lords last week. The award was presented to Gatecrasher’s General Manager Neil Jennings by Lord Henley, Home Office Minister of State and was witnessed and celebrated by a packed audience from all areas of the licensed retailing industry.

The Best Bar None scheme is a recognised scheme, supported by the Home Office, aimed at promoting responsible management and operation of alcohol-licensed premises. The scheme encourages social responsibility among licensees by rewarding good management.

Best Bar None chairman Lord Redesdale said that Gatecrasher had gone “way beyond the call of duty” by working with the local fire service to prepare them in case of a large scale incident at the nightclub.

Lord Redesdale said “What completely nailed this application for me was the press release to the media that they were doing a major search and rescue with the fire department. That shows incredible bravery and also shows a commitment to health and safety which goes way beyond the call of duty almost, because people have to realise that these are venues that you have actually got to train the fire service to understand.

“To actually go forward as a club and say ‘There could be this great disaster in our club’ takes a great deal of panache and to actually go out and say ‘We are doing this to make sure this is the safest area’, I thought that was particularly good and it just shows the commitment to the highest level of safety and staff training.”

Neil Jennings commented “I’m delighted that Gatecrasher has won the prestigious National Best Bar None Award, to win the regional award was a fantastic achievement and this surpasses even that, it is a recognition of the highest order and I would to thank the team at Gatecrasher for their continued hard work and commitment to ensuring that Gatecrasher provides a great safe night out and continues to be the Best Bar None”.

Simon Raine, MD of Gatecrasher added “Gatecrasher has always strived to provide the safest night out for our clubbers. It has always been our number one priority. So to be recognised on a national level for best practise is a great achievement and makes us strive to achieve even more. Safety and security is the basis of a great night out and we continue to work in partnership with the local authorities to achieve this”.

The award follows Gatecrasher Birmingham’s win at the regional Best Bar None awards in 2010 where they shone for operating at a high level beating over 100 venues for the top award.

Jacqui Kennedy, Director of Birmingham City Council’s Regulatory Services said “We are thrilled that a Birmingham nightclub has won this prestigious national award. Best Bar None Birmingham was set up to showcase the best which Birmingham can offer, to both its residents and visitors to the city. Gatecrasher’s commitment to safety and security is phenomenal. The commitment to, and evidence of, the venue working in partnership and maintaining good relationships with the authorities and neighbours is highly commendable helping us, the police, and everyone who cares about the city to drive standards even higher. ”