BII Licensee of the Year 2026 Finalists Announced!

The British Institute of Innkeeping (BII) is delighted to announce their six incredible finalists for this year’s Licensee of the Year Award (LOYA).

In partnership with Sky Business, the Licensee of the Year competition is widely regarded as the most rigorous and hard-fought award for individual licensee operators in the UK.

Since the launch in January this year, licensee operators have been entering the competition, showing the judges evidence of how they have been building their businesses, teams, and communities, with a focus on their resilience, sustainability and diversification.

Selected from a field of over 800 nominations, the six finalists have been selected based on their community impact, support for their teams, commitment to sustainability, their plans for diversification and the “X factor” that makes brilliant pubs so special. They all had exceptional mystery diner visit scores, and faced financial and online audits, followed by face-to-face interviews in their pubs with head judges, Amanda Hemming and Ashley McCarthy.

The 2026 Licensee of the Year Award finalists are as follows:

Eamonn England & Arina Piskunova – The Windsor Castle, N2 8DL

James & Charlotte Foy – The White Horse, LE4 4EF

Linda Cole – The Berkley Arms, PO18 8HG

Micky Foden-Andrews – The Swan, SL4 5JG

Nigel Smith – The Fleece Inn, WR11 7JE

Sonia Labatut – The Plough, SW14 7AF

To learn more about the finalists, please visit the BII website

Steven Alton, BII CEO, commented: “Our Licensee of the Year Award is the most prestigious & hard-fought award, showcasing the dedication and excellence in our sector. The final six this year represent a wide range of fantastic pubs, each offering a unique approach to the care and dedication to their teams and communities.

“We are very proud that the awards offer a value-added experience at every stage of the competition. Our finalists will have had the opportunity to evaluate their businesses at every stage, from mystery customer reports and judging visit feedback, right through to our final judging day at Sky HQ on Monday 15th June.

“I want to take this opportunity to congratulate all involved and wish them the best of luck for the final stages of the competition. I can’t wait to meet them all next month for our final judging day.”

All six finalists will be presented with a trophy at the BII Summer Event on the 16th of June, where the winner of Licensee of the Year 2026 will be crowned. The event is nearly sold out with only a handful of tickets remaining which can be requested here.

The BII would like to thank everyone who entered the competition this year. Keep your eyes peeled for another opportunity to enter in January 2027.

Notes to the Editor

About the British Institute of Innkeeping:

The BII is the leading independent licensee support organisation for individuals working in hospitality, with 13,500 individual members running premises across the UK — predominantly tenanted, leased, managed and freehold pubs. The organisation provides expert helplines, online business support, and guidance on key industry issues, and savings on a range of supply deals for its members, keeping pubs thriving in the heart of every community. Website: www.bii.org

For all Press Enquiries:

Molly Davis, Head of Communications, BII

Email: molly.davis@bii.org | Tel: 07539 377752

Third-party news items are published as received for informational purposes. Publication does not imply endorsement by the Guild. Please use the contact details within the post for any enquiries.