High glamour at the London Club and Bar Awards

There was naked flesh, sharp suits, high heels and egos ahoy at the exclusive and ultra glamorous London Club and Bar Awards held at the swish Riverbank Park Plaza Hotel on July 5.

Known as the biggest and most important annual soirée dedicated exclusively to the nightlife industry, the award ceremony saw London's top entrepreneurs don their best party frocks and gather at the five star Riverbank Park Plaza Hotel for a night of raucous back slapping, shoulder rubbing, shock wins, disappointment and friendly rivalry.

The party then moved onto Soho's hottest new club Movida (and joint winner of Best New Club with The Penthouse) for some true-to-form late night partying, as only the hospitality industry knows how to do.

Club and bar owners, promoters, DJs, event organisers, venue managers, showbiz impresarios, together with their glamorous entourage, glittering clientele, and loyal disciples congregated early in the evening for a lavish drinks reception and dinner comprised of the "who's who" of London's nightlife scene, hosted as usual by industry legend Mark Armstrong.

A sprinkling of celebrities attended the event to present awards (or just enjoyed the free champagne) including Philip Salon, John Fashanu, Tall Paul, Ray Panthaki (who? Ronny from Eastenders), and Julian Bennet and his little dog Lulu (fashion expert from Queer Eye for the Straight Guy UK), amongst other industry greats.

The event was compeered by none other than London's most monstrous and notorious club owners Lenny Beige (played by comedian Steve Furst) who kept the crowds entertained with his witty banter as the despicable self-styled king of cabaret, and legend in his own lunchtime.

This year's ceremony included a (reasonably) civilised champagne and cocktail reception on the Thames Room, before a lavish dinner in The Grand Ballroom that quickly descended into a full scale party. Lighting, audio and effects created a spectacular event that will be talked about until … well, next year's awards.

And if you thought it was a fix - the winning entries from each category were carefully selected by a committee panel involving national newspapers, media partners, key nightlife entrepreneurs, promoters and club industry experts.

Only London's top bars and clubs qualified for nominations, but the judges didn't seem to be able to make up their minds on a few categories, declaring a tie in the Best Club, Best New Club, Best New Bar and Sexiest Host categories.

Rivals became friends once again for this special night which is the highlight of the nightlife industry calendar. All those late nights paid of for a lucky few who took a prestigious award home (if they didn't lose it on the night, that is).

Forget The Oscars. Now officially the largest nightlife industry ceremony in the world, the London Club and Bar Awards has gathered increased prestige and importance and is now in its eleventh year, and remains night of legendary celebration and industry glamour.

Click here to return to the awards page.