BII relaunches recruitment arm
The British Institute of Innkeeping (BII) is to relaunch its recruitment arm with a new identity following a lack of support for the initiative from the industry.
Leisure Careers UK (LCUK) will be renamed BII Careers and broaden its focus from concentrating solely on the managed house sector to include tenancies and leases.
Richard Parker (pictured), who will head BII Careers, hopes the rebranding will change its fortunes by making a direct link to the respected parent body. He added that there had been a lot of confusion over the role of LCUK.
"Some people thought it was a recruitment agency and expected us to recruit staff for them and did not understand that our job is all about improving perceptions of the pub industry in such a way that it becomes an attractive career. We have to communicate that more clearly this time around."
As well as continuing its industry open days - after which 95 per cent of the 1,000 students who have attended in the past year said they would consider the licensed trade as a career - BII Careers will:
- Redesign its website Barzone, which is attracting 50 enquiries a week
- Host tenant recruitment events
- Establish stronger links between pubcos and universities.
Mr Parker also sees potential in attracting people made redundant in the manufacturing downturn into the expanding tenanted pub sector.
"I am optimistic about what we can achieve," he said. "But pub companies must realise that we can do none of this without their backing."
