Greene King celebrates top prize at the BII NITAs
Greene King Pub Partners and Charles Wells Pub Company are among the pubcos celebrating after taking top prizes at the BII NITA training awards.
The tenanted and leased arm of Greene King picked up the prize for best development programme in non-managed estates - and was picked out by judges for offering the very best entry of the year.
The judges said they were impressed by Greene King's clear commitment to training through the 'Go for Growth' programme, and the way the pubco had used an independent university team to ensure it was making the most of the programme.
Other winners at the event included Greene King tenant Margaret Orman, licensee of the Whitmore Arms in Orsett, Essex - named licensee trainer of the year.
Charles Wells Pub Company, meanwhile, picked up the award for best licensee induction programme in non-managed estates for its Retail Induction Support Initiative.
David Eliott, managing director of Greene King Pub Partners, said: "Winning the NITA awards really does endorse the high quality training and development we offer new and existing licensees.
"The 'Go for Growth' training programme has been judged as the very best in the industry, which is a tremendous result and I'm proud of the team and the commitment they offer to our licensees."
Anthony Wallis, managing director of Charles Wells Pub Company, said the prize was the "culmination of a lot of research, hard work and dedication by a group of cross-functional staff and existing licensees to provide the induction content that prospective licensees are looking for".
"We are committed to providing exceptional customer service to our retailers and the induction process is one of a number of changes we've introduced this year in response to customer demand," he said.
The full list of this year's BII Nita winners:
Supreme Award winner 2007 - Greene King Pub Partners
Best licensee induction programme in managed estates - Spirit Group
Best licensee induction programme in non-managed estates - Charles Wells Pub Company
Licensee trainer of the year in managed and non-managed estates - Margaret Orman FBII, The Whitmore Arms, Orsett, Grays, Essex
Best development programme in managed estates - Rileys
Best development programme in non-managed estates - Greene King Pub Partners
Best development programme in licensed retail where consumption is off the premises - Wm Morrison
Innovation in training award - Fuller, Smith & Turner
Social responsibilities award where consumption is on the premises - Poppleston Allen
Social responsibilities award where consumption is off the premises - Capper & Co
Best area manager/BDM development award - Enterprise Inns
Professional trainer of the year award - Mike Kennedy CMBII, Innfront Training
Supplier training award - Diageo GB
Best training scheme run by institutions of further and higher education in partnership with the licensed retail industry - JD Wetherspoon in partnership with The Centre for Leisure Retailing, Nottingham Trent University
Door supervisor training award - NALDS Training
