THE owners of a thriving Ayr live music venue say they are "well chuffed" after winning a national award.

Venue38, in Carrick Street, has been awarded Entertainment Venue of the Year at the Prestige Awards.

Tracy McGregor, who operates the venue with partner James Bunten, admits they are thrilled with the award.

She said: "It's a fantastic honour. We'd been told about it in April so we've had to keep quiet until then.

"What makes it extra special for us is that it's an award that was voted for by industry experts, not by the public.

"To get an award like this after four years, and two of them spent closed due to the pandemic, is certainly recognition for all our hard work."

The non-profit community interest company started operating in early 2020, but was open for just six weeks before being forced to close its doors due to the pandemic. 

Tracy explained: "We knew the owners of the Madisons nightclub were looking to sell up and being music daft, we just decided to give it a go. 

"We managed to do a wee bit of refurb but just weeks later we had to close, although the pandemic did give us time to really spruce the place up. 

"Unfortunately we received very little funding support and it wasn't easy, but we made it through and opened properly in March 2022."

The thriving venue has welcomed huge acts including Hue and Cry and the Bay City Rollers, among many others.

Tracy added: "It's been an encouraging few years, with some big bands through the door on a regular basis. 

"We're one of Ayr's only proper music venues so the bands love that, and we also have other events like club nights, bingo and comedy.

"A big hit is our Limelight night, where local bands can come and get up on the stage, and all ticket money goes straight back to them.

"This has proved a huge success and two of our Limelight bands, Static Sky and Local Authority, are doing big things across the UK and are coming back to perform in December."

The venue has a capacity of 500 people for concerts, and has more than ten staff involved when open. 

Tracy says that despite ongoing concerns around the live music scene, the venue will continue to strive forward attracting bigger bands and being a launchpad for small, local artists.