Training: The BII's Personal Business Portfolio

The BII has been trialing its new one-day advanced training courses. Phil Mellows assesses the progress.

Trials of a series of new one-day advanced courses aimed at busy, experienced licensees have been completed by the British Institute of Innkeeping (BII).

The 13-module Personal Business Portfolio is designed to replace the BII's Advanced Qualifications (AQ) and will now go forward to a national pilot stage and accreditation by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority.

Although, since they were introduced in 1998, some 6,500 AQs have been awarded, their three-day format has deterred many publicans from taking them.

The short, intensive PBP is made up of three core subjects which, on passing, give licensees an Intermediate Award in Licensed Hospitality, and 10 further modules, passing four of which leads the candidate to an Advanced Certificate.

Students can then apply to take the BII's Diploma in Licensed Hospitality for which they have to demonstrate that the training has successfully been put into practice in their business.

So far the PBP has received the thumbs-up from the two pub groups taking part in the trials, held during the summer. Cumbrian brewer Jennings put 14 people on seven courses including 12 tenants, a business development manager and HR manager Sheila Doughton who described the experience as "very valuable".

"Licensees who took the modules have already made changes to their businesses as a result and their performance has improved," she said. "It is an excellent idea. Part of the problem we have is in getting tenants out of their pubs to do training and having it in bite-sized chunks in this way does make it easier.

"It's a tremendously positive step forward."

Chris Nicholls, who heads tenant training at Bedford brewer Charles Wells, which also took part in the trials, agreed.

"The one-day format will encourage more of our licensees to train at this higher level and we would expect to get quite a few of them through it," he said. "Obviously the courses still need a bit of tweaking to get them right, but the problems were more in delivery than content and they have the makings of a valuable qualification."

BII operations manager Rees Ruchat is happy with progress. "The idea of these pre-pilots was to test whether we really could deliver the courses in a single day," he said.

"Although I think we will need to build in an element of pre-learning, the vast majority of people who tried it liked the one-day format. It is more accessible, reduces costs and reduces the impact on the business of the licensee being away.

"Overall, the subjects worked well - although we have dropped one module. But the key to it will be the homework the licensee does in advance. This can be done through workbooks or by the licensee considering how the course might be applied in their own pub. The important thing about the PBP is that it can make a difference to the business.

"For that reason we don't want to be prescriptive about which modules a licensee chooses to take, their business needs will be different and it will all depend on the individual.

"But the pre-pilots have shown that the three core units underpin the knowledge you need for the other modules, so they should be taken first."

Rees warned that the trials also confirmed that the PBP courses are strictly for the experienced licensee. "The inexperienced people did struggle," he said. "We would recommend that students take the BII Qualifying Exam first."

The full PBP pilot, involving managed as well as tenanted and leased pubcos, will be launched towards the end of this year and will give the BII a further opportunity to hone the qualification to the industry's needs. If all goes well PBPs could be available to all by 2005.

Pictured: Trainer Bill Stanaway (centre) with the Jennings students​

Core units​

• Marketing
• Motivation
• Financial Control

Other units​

• Targeted Catering
• Improving Catering Operations
• Stocktaking
• Employment Practice
• Merchandising & Selling
• Cash Control
• Business Planning
• Customer Service
• Group Training

Case Study: Lesley Rhodes, the Bridge Inn, Cumbria​

Less than three months after completing a seven-module PBP pre-pilot, Jennings tenant Lesley Rhodes has already added two per cent on to her GP by applying what she learned on the course.

"I can understand the stocktaker's reports better and I've been promoting my higher GP items now that I know what they are," said Lesley, who runs the Bridge Inn at Santon Bridge, Cumbria.

"We have also introduced comment cards, an idea I got from the customer care module, and that has been especially profitable. We can find out straight away when there are any problems while before people used to used to not tell you and just leave."

Lesley has also been inspired take a step back from the business in order to more actively manage her 24 staff, plus the 10 at her other pub, the Globe in nearby Gosforth.

"We are going for Investor in People accreditation, so I will be starting appraisals and doing induction training. At the moment we just tend to throw people in at the deep end because we are so busy."

Lesley has done "a lot" of courses in the past, but she was "overawed" by the PBP pilot. "I was amazed I passed but we had the best tutor I have ever experienced in Bill Stanaway," she said. "And it was good to meet up with other licensees. I picked up a lot of tips."

Courses​

Courses are completed in one day, unless otherwise indicated

• NCL - On-Licence, Part 1
• NCL - Drugs Awareness (London only)
• National Certificate for Entertainment Licensees (London only)
• National Certificate for Door Supervisors (three days, Nottingham only)
• Conflict Handling
• Finance
• Promotions
• Motivating Your Staff
• Chalkboard Challenge/Merchandising
• Learnpurple Course - Recruitment & Retention/Customer Service (London only)
• WSET Level 2 Intermediate Certificate in Spirits (three days)
• WSET Level 1 Foundation Certificate in Wines

Hospitality Training Festival​

It's back! The Publican's own Hospitality Training Festival is bringing free training to the pub industry once more with two three-day events.

Following its successful debut last year, the festival is going to Nottingham in December and in February 2004 it will return to London.

Uniquely, the event provides free training for the hospitality industry giving candidates the opportunity to return to their workplace qualified, motivated and with more reason to remain committed to their careers in the hospitality sector.

In addition to standard British Institute of Innkeeping (BII) courses such as the National Certificate for Licensees (NCL), the event will offer information-based workshops, drinks and bar training, wine and spirit training and the chance to question an expert steering committee.

It is fully supported by the BII, the Hospitality Training Foundation's training arm Stonebow, the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET), staff recruitment and retention specialist Learnpurple and training providers including Inn-Dispensable.

While the first festival was positively received by attendees, industry associations and sponsors, a variety of enhancements have been made to improve the experience for delegates this time around. They include:

• Advice Lounge​ - providing information about finance, law, recruitment and training
• Handouts​
• Advisory committee​ - offering