BII considers plan to list trade 'pros'

The BII (British Institute of Innkeeping) is examining the idea of drafting a list of "approved" pub trade surveyors, lawyers and accountants for licensees.

The "approved professionals" could be available at a fixed price, and possibly with discounts for BII members.

The aim would be to ensure trade newcomers in particular get advice from specialists, said BII chief executive Neil Robertson.

"We've been asked to look at it by members so we're giving it active consideration at the moment," he said.

"The aim is to get better quality advice."

Updated codes of practice for pubcos require would-be tenants to take professional advice before signing.

Robertson said: "Often that's the family accountant who doesn't have the particular expertise [in the pub sector]."

The system could resemble the Pubs Independent Rent Review Scheme (PIRRS), where tenants choose a preferred valuer from a list at a fixed price to help settle rent disputes.

But, unlike PIRRS, which has board members from across the industry, the new scheme would be a BII initiative, said Robertson.

"We would certainly learn the lessons from PIRRS. We would get a number of approved people and recommend them to the trade.

"They would have to be offering very competitive rates and there may be discounts for BII members."

Meanwhile, Robertson has urged tenants to give feedback on how updated codes of practice from pubcos are working for them.

Twenty-four pubcos have now received full accreditation, or accreditation in principle, from the BII's Benchmarking & Accreditation Scheme, BIIBAS, for their updated codes of practice for tenants.

BIIBAS has now launched a website, biibas.bii.org​, providing information and links to accredited codes.

Robertson said complaints about pubcos under BIIBAS have fallen. "Either everybody is doing better or people don't think it's worth complaining."

Feedback on the BII's idea can be emailed to anbzvz@ovv.bet​.