Sheffield bar, Alder, has today been named best local pub in Sheffield by customers in an online competition.
The Neepsend bar has won the Battle of the Boozers competition, which pitted pubs against one another in a head-to-head contest, on Instagram.
Danny Tennant, general manager of Alder, credited their win to the strong local community the bar has built in the 12 months they have been open.
He said: “We’ve had more people share the story to vote for us, saying vote for Alder, than anyone else has [in Battle of the Boozers] before.
“Pub landlords are historically pillars of the community and we really try to push that. We remember people’s names, try and get them to come back and have a friendly atmosphere.
“We work really hard to be known and not be this faceless venue, I think that plays a big part.”
Alder won the final round against the Rutland Arms in Sheffield’s city centre with 1011 votes, 181 more votes than their opponent received.
When asked how he thought the win would benefit the bar, Mr Tennant said: “A lot of the weekend trade here is people walking past and looking in but now we’ve had a wider outreach perhaps people will come down specifically rather than just in passing.
“People who had never heard of us before are now thinking okay there must be something to this place.”
Battle of the Boozers was organised by Pints of Sheffield, an account dedicated to sharing some of the best places to get a drink around the city.
Joe Rugg, the person behind the Instagram account, said: “It’s about getting some free exposure out for these venues, especially small venues that no one’s really heard of yet.
“It’s shined a light on the venue’s personality and the personality of the people who run it.”
The competition ran for the first time in 2021 which saw The Bear, on Abbeydale Road, voted as the people’s favourite after only being open for three months.
Matt Beety, the owner of The Bear, said: “It had a good positive effect and we have a handful of stories where people who would have probably never seen us have come in because of the little bit of extra exposure and coverage.
“For a really small place like mine having an extra four people in on a night is great.”
The cost of living crisis has hit small pubs and bars especially hard as the price of opening is higher and fewer customers are coming in.
Pub statistics show between 2010 and 2020 the number of pubs has decreased by 22% and a recent study from Altus group shows that approximately 50 pubs are closing every month in the UK.
Mr Beety said: “The fact that there are places closing every hour in the country at the minute, anything like this that encourages people to get up and go to a pub, it’s brilliant and we really appreciate it.”
