BII Licensee of the Year announces 2018 semi-finalists

The British Institute of Innkeeping (BII) - the professional body representing the UK’s licensees - has announced the twelve semi-finalists for this year’s Licensee of the Year competition. Sponsored by Sky, the Licensee of the Year competition is a longstanding award which has been held annually for over 20 years. Since the launch in January, people working in the licensed trade were encouraged to register themselves as well as nominate others. Selected from over 200 entrants, the final twelve include licensees from across the UK, from many different types of pubs. The judges, Sue Allen, BII director of commercial and membership and chief judge and previous winner, Ashley McCarthy will visit and judge these pubs in person and conduct in depth interviews. The 2018 Licensee of the Year semi-finalists are as follows: Kim Barker - The Ship Inn - St Austell Daniel Da Costa - St Christopher's Inn - Southwark Lee and Keris de Villiers - The Pig & Whistle - Wandsworth Marc Duvauchelle - The Old Customs House - Portsmouth Mark Holden & Justin Barnett - The Victoria Inn - Truro Simon Mills - The Harvester - Long Itchington Christopher Norfolk - The Elm Tree - Elmton Mark Shaw - The Castle Inn - Castle Donnington Jessica Stanton and Russ Matterson - The Halfway House Pub and Kitchen - Polbathic Mark & Penny Thornhill - The King's Head - Hursley Rachel Watson - The George IV - Chiswick Alex and Tanya Williams - Polgooth Inn - St Austell Ashley McCarthy said: “Every year, the entrants continue to raise the bar, and 2018 is no exception. It has been really tough to decide on the final twelve, but I’m very much looking forward to seeing these pubs in person and getting to know the semi-finalists." David Rey, managing director of Sky Business, added: "We sponsor the BII Licensee of the Year Award because we recognise the importance of rewarding outstanding licensees for the tireless work they do to support the on-trade. Congratulations to all those that have been nominated as semi-finalists.” Once they have completed their tour of the semi-finalists’ pubs, the judges will narrow them down to the six finalists, who will be judged by a panel of industry experts in three areas: marketing and business development, financial awareness and people development. All six finalists will be presented with a trophy at the BII Summer Event on the 5 June, where the winner of Licensee of the Year 2018 will be crowned.