The LOYA competition is widely regarded as the most rigorous and hard-fought award for individual licensee operators in the UK.
The awards, in partnership with Sky Business, were launched in January this year, in a bid to find the best licensee.
Licensee have been entering the competition, showing the judges evidence of how they have been building their businesses, teams, and communities, with a focus on their resilience, sustainability and diversification.
X Factor
The six finalists have been selected from a field of over 500 entries, and were judged on community impact, support for their teams, commitment to sustainability, their plans for diversification and the “X factor” that makes brilliant pubs so special.
The BII said they all had exceptional mystery diner visit scores, and faced financial and online audits, followed by face-to-face interviews in their pubs with judges, Amanda Hemming and Ashley McCarthy.
The 2025 Licensee of the Year Award finalists are as follows:
Janice Blacklock & Amanda Buchanan – Border Terrier, NE30 3SF
Jon Howard – The Wykeham Arms, SO23 9PE
Harry Seccombe & Geoff Popple – Chaplin’s & The Cellar Bar, BH1 4AG
Michael Dove & Tommy Higgs – Three Horseshoes, OX28 6BS
Micky Foden-Andrews – The Swan, SL4 5JG
Mark Annear - The Cott Inn, TQ9 6HE
Hard-fought
BII CEO Steve Alton congratulated the finalists. “Our Licensee of the Year Award is the most prestigious & hard-fought award, showcasing the dedication and excellence in our sector. The final six this year represent a wide range of fantastic pubs, each offering a unique approach to the care and dedication to their teams and communities,” he said.
“We are very proud that the awards offer a value-added experience at every stage of the competition. Our finalists will have had the opportunity to evaluate their businesses at every stage, from mystery customer reports and judging visit feedback, right through to our final judging day at Sky HQ on Monday 16 June.”
All six finalists will be presented with a trophy at the BII Summer Event on the 17 June, where the winner of Licensee of the Year 2025 will be crowned.
