FIRST ROUND – Shortlist Voting

1) Each member of the branch, as listed on the National Membership Database on 1 November each year, can submit Pub Of The Year votes either via email or by post, between 1st December and 29th December each year. Members can vote for their best three pubs, in order; one Best Cider and Perry Pub; and one Best Club, by downloading the voting form below.

2) The NBSS Coordinator will download and analyse data for the preceding 12-month period. This will determine the highest beer scoring average pub and club in each category of City and Rural. Cider scoring is not yet available. The NBSS Coordinator will also use the Confidence Rating part of the software. This will determine the best City pub, Rural pub and club, by beer score average.

3) The highest voted pub in each category in 1) above, as voted by Plymouth Branch Members, and the highest beer score average pub in each category in 2) above will be nominated. If they are same establishment, then the second-placed establishment from NBSS will be selected.

4) This first round of voting will give up to eight finalists to go forward to the Judging Round. These results will be announced on Plymouth CAMRA Facebook.

SECOND ROUND – Selection Surveys

5) The top two establishments from the FIRST ROUND in each category above – City Pub, Rural Pub, Cider Pub and Club – will be surveyed by Branch Member volunteers using the standard CAMRA POTY Judging Form. For the City and Rural POTY, this means the top pub as voted by Members in each area plus the top pub in each area by Beer Scoring Average; the top two cider and top two clubs, as voted by Branch Members, go into the judging final. Marks are awarded for a number of different criteria which have changed from those previously used. These include the Quality and Knowledge of the Product (ale or cider), Cleanliness and Hygiene, Service and Welcome & Overall Impression and Value.

6) Members do not have to survey all eight finalists; however, they MUST visit both pubs in a category that they do wish to judge for their scores to count.

7) Surveys MUST take place between 1st January and 31st January 2024 – roughly four weeks should be sufficient time. Judging forms may be submitted electronically or by post; paper forms MUST arrive by 2359 on Wednesday 31st January 2024.

THIRD ROUND – Winner Selection

8) The establishment receiving the highest average score by the judges in each category will be the winner of that category. The establishment achieving the highest overall average score will be the Branch Overall Pub Of The Year.

9) In the event of a tie, the Branch Chair will have a casting vote.

Committee Responsibility

10) The Branch Committee reserves the right to exclude any suspect documentation from the process, suspend, or cancel all or part of the competition, and will have the final decision on the awards presented.

Voting and Judging Forms

Only Plymouth CAMRA Branch Members can vote. Please sign in with your Membership Number and your password before downloading any of the Voting or Judging Forms. Please click on this link for the Pub Of The Year Voting and Judging Forms

Example Timetable – Example for POTY 2020 (usual timetable)

1st to 31st December 2019 – voting open to all eligible members via email or post
1st January to 31st January 2020 – conduct surveys of Round One winners (as announced on Plymouth CAMRA Facebook and at January Branch Social Meeting)
2020 AGM – announce winners at Branch AGM