BII searching for China's top licensee

Trade body the BII is set to launch a new licensee of the year award - in China.

The group has just signed a £300,000 deal to launch its licensed trade training programmes in China and is also keen to start an awards programme.

Ultimately the body wants UK businesses to forge links so they can set up franchises oversees.

This would potentially see high achievers - such as the Chinese licensee of the year - recruited to work in those outlets.

BII chief executive Neil Robertson said: "This is just a starting point and I hope it will result in spin offs for the industry.

"We have to be careful that we balance the time that we put into this but the money we make can be reinvested in membership services."

The first part of the deal has seen BII sign-up with a Chinese training company to use its services.

On top of the licensee of the year programme, the BII also wants to launch a university programme in China.

Meanwhile back in the UK a series of meetings have been held by BII regional groups to discuss potential changes to the organisation's structure.

Robertson confirmed that the group was looking at the way its 16 regional groups are currently run.

"We are putting together a national strategy to look at different options open to us and one of the areas we are looking at is how to make the regional structure more effective," he said.