BII chairman's call to arms over apprenticeship levy
Speaking this week at the Publican's Morning Advertiser's Pub Skills summit in west London, Pender confirmed that the British Institute of Innkeeping (BII) would be lobbying alongside the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers (ALMR) and the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) to make sure the pub industry is provided with relevant apprenticeships when the new apprenticeship levy is introduced.
The levy, which comes into effect in April 2017, is expected to be an opportunity for businesses to make the most of extra Government funding for training, but the training will need to be provided by a registered training provider.
At the skills summit, Pender, who has been chair of the BII for 20 months, warned that the pub industry was in danger of employing training providers that are "doing the same apprenticeships as an airline does" because pubs could be put into a "generic hospitality framework, which won't fit our businesses".
"We need employers. Ultimately Government listens to employers," he told the event.
"We're going to make sure there is a structured letter, but I implore you to come back, sign the letter for me and send it off as an employer. We'll make it as easy as we can for you, but we need to work together on this one. Otherwise we're going to end up not being able to drill the training down or we're going to have funding for irrelevant training, which I think is very dangerous."
"To give you an idea, retail have already done this as well and they're seeing phenomenal results. If Tesco, Waitrose and Asda can work together, I'm sure we can as well," he added.
