Glen Pearson, General Manager of the multi award-winning Shibden Mill Inn has been named one of six finalists for The British Institute of Innkeeping (BII) Licensee of the Year Award.
The BII is the leading professional body for the UK’s licensees. As one of six finalists Glen and Shibden Mill Inn have been through audits on food hygiene ratings, independent social media audits and mystery customer visits and also welcomed the judging panel to their premises for a full site visit and in depth interviews; Glen then faced a panel judging day and was quizzed by industry experts in four areas; Marketing, Industry Affairs, Finance and People & Training.
“I am absolutely over the moon to have been named as one of six shortlisted finalists for this year’s prestigious BII Licensee of the Year Award,” says Glen, “To have beaten off such stiff competition from the hundreds of outstanding entries to make it this far is one of the proudest moments in my career.”
Sue Allen, Commercial and Membership Director of the BII, commented: ‘The finalists should be extremely proud of themselves for reaching this stage of such a demanding process. The Licensee of the Year Awards are renowned for being extremely challenging but we do feel that this heightens the level of achievement for those who have reached the final stage. I wish every one of them the best on finals judging day.”
Licensee entered from across the UK, with Glen Pearson and the other finalists successfully demonstrating through a number of stages their expertise in the pub and hospitality industry.
Speaking about Glen being announced as a shortlisted finalist, Simon Heaton, Proprietor of Shibden Mill Inn said: “I am so please for Glen, who thoroughly deserves his place in the final. His tireless approach to excellence in every aspect of the business is unparalleled and his passion for his role here at Shibden Mill Inn is infectious – he leads by example with amazing success. He is a fabulous ambassador for Shibden Mill Inn and the industry as a whole and in my opinion would be the perfect choice for being crowned BII Licensee of the Year 2016.”
All finalists will be presented with trophies at the BII Summer Event on 7th June, when the overall winner of Licensee of the Year 2016 will be announced.