New British Institute of Innkeeping chairman Anthony Pender has said the organisation was in danger of becoming ‘irrelevant’ before its revitalisation under Tim Hulme.
Pender said his first six months in the role had already seen great strides in the organisation and stressed that a focus on training and developing the next generation of key leaders needed to be the focus going forward.
He told attendees at yesterday’s Summer Event: “Two years ago I sat in the Grosvenor for this event and I was thinking of cancelling my membership. I felt like it was becoming irrelevant and didn’t really have anything to offer me. It’s fair to say I’ve made a bit of a u-turn.
“Our challenge is support businesses both big and small to give young people the best experience and best opportunities they can.
“Together we can end that association in people’s minds with the pub trade and a stop gap job. We can show people this is a profession, not just a trade.”
Chief executive Tim Hulme told M&C Report that the BII had gone through a transformational period.
He said: “Anybody who compares today’s event to previous years will see just what a difference there is in our approach and how we want people to see the BII. We want to represent society in 2015 and I think we are starting to do that.”
He added: “I have talked before about needing a kind of charted institute for licensing and have drawn parallels with the construction trade which completely revolutionised the way it recognises skills. There is a big role for the BII there.”
Yesterday’s event also saw the launch of a new campaign to develop female talent in the pub industry and help address the gender imbalance at senior levels. The Athena Project will see participants paired with a mentor who will help them develop. Mentors who have already signed up to support the programme include Spirit Leased managing director Chris Welham and Everards managing director Stephen Gould.
