What attracted you to the job at the BII?
It's a fascinating prospect and an interesting industry. I have done a lot of work with small businesses and previously worked in hospitality. It's very much a people industry and that is much more interesting to me. I would rather work in an industry that is people led. I think it is an industry that is undervalued in this country and it certainly could be more professional and be seen as more professional as well. The role is attractive because it combines a number of things I have done before on the legislation side, working with the government, qualifications and training and professional body side. The chance to work with members to develop the professional body aspect is a particularly interesting challenge to me.
Will you be able to use your previous experience working in government departments to your advantage?
The relationships I have will be useful to the industry and to the BII. It's not our job to lead on lobbying for the industry but the BII has a very important role to play in promoting the industry and its professionalism. As a new person looking in - and knowing Whitehall - it's clear the industry has some brand value issues.
One point I hear, and makes a lot of sense, is that the industry does not speak coherently enough. I would certainly want to make a contribution to that.
What do you mean by brand values?
Let's be blunt, lots of people blame pubs for social disorder. Now how much of the blame for social disorder lies at doors of pubs? Very little. When I was working in the area of drug misuse it was clear drugs and drug problems are a people problem, it's not about the supply. It's therefore not right to blame the suppliers: it's the people that use it that should be looked at. It's very easy to blame pubs, they are a sitting target and unfairly, I think.
We are drinking less than we ever have - we drink less than the French - so why have we got such a problem? The problem doesn't lay with on-trade or the off-trade - although excessive discounts don't help - but the primary problem is people not drinking responsibly.
The government and the industry share the same objective in encouraging responsible drinking. But we would disagree sometimes with how they do it - regulation and mandatory codes of practices are not always the best way. Training is the thing that should be tried first and given a chance.
So will you be working closely with other trade bodies?
Absolutely. I hope to work closely with them and support their messages. Members feel very strongly that the BII must represent and reflect those views and encourage those that lobby directly to do that. But also the BII's role is a more subtle role than lobbying. It also involves working with the government around regulations and qualifications, helping government to understand how to make the industry better - but also appreciate the limits of legislation. It's easy to write legislation, it's hard to write good legislation.
So are there too many laws impacting on the industry?
Members would say there are too many, so I would probably assume there are too many. What is more important than numbers is how they are applied and enforced.
So what is your vision for the BII?
We've had a wonderful few years and have been very lucky with our previous two chief executives. It's a tough act to follow, but it's a good time for a change. The downturn is quite shocking for lots of people and a lot of us will need to do things differently to survive. In the BII we need to understand how best to support our members through that.
I want BII to grow, but first we need to reflect on what the priorities are and they need to be slightly more attuned to our members. In this new phase it is professionalism and excellence that will get people through.