During a BII London regional general meeting last week Hulme admitted that his first eight weeks in the role have been “probably the most challenging of my life” but said he has a plan of action to revive the organisation.
“We have become complacent and I think there is an element of being elitist at Camberley [BII head office],” he admitted.
He said the organisation has to attract the next generation or it will not have a future in its current form.
“If the industry truly wants a professional body the mindset needs to change. We need to get closer to family brewers and pubcos and those in the industry and we need to plot and navigate our way through this. Because we are not attracting the best of the best,” he said.
He also believes that the organisation has lost focus as it has stretched itself by trying to fulfil too many roles — as an awarding body, a professional body, a membership organisation, a trade association, a trainer and a lobbyist.
He said: “I think we need to ask ourselves, the board and the council what is the BII there for and what does the industry want?”
The BII lost market share in the qualifications sector probably due to quality and pricing issues, he admitted.
“At this time, as we face times of austerity, I think that all the sectors are saying that customers are exercising much more choice about where they spend their money and we are no different in that regard. We need to give a quality product at a reasonable price and we need to show value on the personal licence holders exam,” he said.
While the membership of the organisation is now at between 10,000 and 11,000 people — with an industry size of 52,000 pubs — he believes this means “we have a long way to go”.
He wants to professionalise the organisation and introduce some form of assessed membership. “Every year we should say ‘are you operating in a fundamentally professional way in terms of ethics and standards?’ I know there are people in this industry who probably aren’t operating in an ethical way. Now we must ask ourselves do we want those people as members?” he said.
Hulme will also look at improving the services the BII offers, overhauling the BII Business magazine as he believes no-one “really wants to pick it up” as well as delivering actual value for money.
He said: “I do regard myself as the right person to steer the BII through what has been described by one social media commentator as choppy waters.
"I do recognise the challenges the industry faces and more importantly that our membership faces. I also recognise the mess we have got ourselves into as an industry in terms of landlord/tenant arrangements.
“I am proud of my RICS membership and I want to be a steward of creating and establishing a professional body where members are proud to display a BII logo, and not just because they give us £150 a year.”
Future strategy: BII directional strategy for the next 10 to 15 years.
■ Membership and benefits
■ Qualifications
■ Social Impact
■ Partnerships and alliances
■ Lean and agile operation