Heron Inn takes BII Licensee of the Year Award
T his week, our licensees, Amanda and Nick Hemming of the Heron Inn (Malpas, Cornwall) were judged victorious above six finalists for the BII Licensee of the Year 2022.
Decided by three panels of industry experts and operators, the award is widely regarded as the most rigorous and hard-fought accolade for individual licensee operators in the UK and is the biggest national award for licensees to receive.
This is the fourth time that one of our licensees has won the award in six years. Previous winners include Rob and Lucy Brewer from the Rashleigh Arms in Charlestown (2016) and Alex and Tanya Williams from the Polgooth Inn (2018). Last year’s winners were Chris and Jason Black, who run four of our tenanted pubs - the Pityme Inn in Rock, the Lugger Inn in Polruan, the Weavers Inn in Bodmin, and the London Inn in Padstow.
Competing with an exceptional field of over 300 entrants, Nick and Amanda had been strong competitors from the start, scoring highly across all areas including mystery customer visits, web, and social media audits, as well as their on-site judging visit from Sue Allen and Ashley McCarthy on the expert committee. Their performance on the final judging day sealed the deal for these fantastic operators who have proved they have what it takes to be the best licensees in the UK.
They picked up their winner’s trophy in front of colleagues and industry friends at this year’s BII Summer Event, hosted on Tuesday 21 June.
Amanda and Nick Hemming said of their win:
W e are so grateful to receive this incredible award, The BII LOYA22 has been a very enjoyable process from start to finish. We’ve met some fantastic people and have made firm friendships. We are now looking forward to the next year working with the BII & St Austell Brewery to share our passion for this amazing industry.
Jim Sloan, Head of St Austell Tenanted Pubs commented:
“We are so proud of Nick and Amanda for this amazing achievement. It’s thoroughly deserved and testament to their hard work and the consistently fantastic experiences they have given their guests over the years. Four of our fantastic licensees have taken home this prestigious industry award in recent years and we could not be prouder.”
Damian Saunders, Managing Director of Sky Business said:
“A huge congratulations to Amanda and Nick for winning the Licensee of the Year Award in 2022. Sky is delighted to sponsor this award and play a part in recognising the individuals that have achieved so much in the industry, particularly after the incredible challenges they have faced over the last 2 years.”
Steve Alton, Chief Executive of the BII added:
“I’d like to offer a massive congratulations to Nick and Amanda on behalf of myself and the whole team here at the BII, including our fantastic judges.
T his is the most rigorous and intense competition in our industry, and to win from the largest field of nominations we have ever seen, is truly remarkable.
I’d also like to congratulate our other incredible finalists, as getting to the finals of this competition is an incredible achievement. The friendships they have all formed in the last 2 days has been fantastic to see, and we will be sharing more of the best practice from all our finalists over the coming year.”