Best Bar None - the UK's national awards scheme for best practice in the licensed trade

Doncaster Council’s award winning Best Bar None scheme celebrated the years success’s with a triumphant awards night at Doncaster Racecourse on Monday 23 January.

The awards night, which rewards the licensees for the safe and responsible management of licensed premises, saw venues from across the borough reap the benefits for their hard work.

 More than 300 licensees and guests attended the night, which was hosted by Doncaster radio station Sine FM and sponsored by Heineken, Diagio, Britvic and Highfield ABC.  A charity auction on the night raised £2500, which will be donated to The Aurora Centre.

Booking is now open of the most prestigious events of the licensed retail industry calendar, the 2012 BII Annual Lunch will take place on Tuesday 8th May 2012. Join us and our 2012 partners, Britvic, at The Grosvenor House in London.

The 2012 theme focuses on Success in Business, Excellence in Customer Service and Pride in Great Britain, and the guest speaker is Michelle Mone OBE, co-owner of MJM International and the creator of Ultimo. Listed as one of the top 3 female entrepreneurs in the UK Michelle’s straight talking speech will give guests a genuine down to earth personal account of how she built up her company, and a passionate account of her struggle to succeed against all odds, providing practical advice to budding entrepreneurs.

BII and Britvic are also delighted to be announcing the winner of the prestigious 2012 BII Licensee of the Year competition, celebrating the highest level of excellence within our industry.

The BII Annual Lunch offers a fantastic opportunity to network with friends, colleagues and key industry influencers – and a great day out!

The impressive Grosvenor House on Park Lane will once again play host to the lunch, now in its 24th year. Guests will be treated to a sumptuous three-course lunch, served with a selection of fine wines, and beer from the event’s supporters Fuller, Smith & Turner, and Budweiser Budvar

or call Claire Williamson on 01276 417823 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

The BII AGM will also take place at the Grosvenor House. This is open only to BII members and will give invaluable insight to BII’s past year's activities and plans for the future.

Pubs, clubs and bars in Redbridge had a chance to show that they are Best Bar None as part of a national scheme to cut crime and raise the quality of licensed premises.

At the awards held at Valentines Mansion in Ilford, Councillor Chris Cummins, The Mayor of Redbridge, presented the "Best of All award" recognising Redbridge's best bar. Senior officers from Redbridge Council, Fire, Police and the NHS were there to support the awards.

British Institute of Innkeeping (BII) and Best Bar None (BBN) announces the departure of Neil Robertson after a busy and successful time as Chief Executive.

After 3 years at BII & BBN, Neil is moving to take up a role with leading apprenticeship providers, Babcock International as Director of Training.  He will remain involved with the pub sector and BIIAB through Babcock’s pub apprenticeship scheme.

With the replacement process already underway, current BII Treasurer, Peter Thomas, will stand in as interim CEO. With 15 years experience of the BII, and a long career in the Industry, Peter can ensure that both current initiatives and new plans will be kept on track.

Chief amongst these will be implementing a new streamlined Council structure, and an accompanying new 3 year strategy. BII members will be asked to vote in January on the new proposed arrangements, which Council have worked on over the last year.