The winners are announced in the 2000 National Innkeeping Training Awards

16-Feb-2001

JD Wetherspoon, Enterprise Inns and St Austell Brewery are among the winners in the 2000 National Innkeeping Training Awards (NITA) sponsored by Inn Partnership and in association with Morning Advertiser. The awards, which are now in their tenth year, are run by the British Institute of Innkeeping and aim to recognise those at the pinnacle of training for the licensed retail sector.

St Austell Brewery has won the judges’ Special Award in recognition of its determination to secure funding for part of its training programme and its careful targeting of training to bring about quantifiable outcomes. JD Wetherspoon won the Supreme Award for the Best Overall Training Programme for Managed Estates, while Enterprise Inns won the Supreme Award for the Best Overall Training Programme for Non-Managed Estates. A full list of winners and finalists is attached.

There are eight NITA categories designed to reflect all those involved in industry training – from large colleges and pub companies to single-site licensees and independent training organisations. In all categories the judges were looking both at the quality of training input and, equally important, hard evidence of a positive impact on the business.

Institute deputy director John Walker said: “One of the most positive elements of entering for a NITA is the way it makes you look at your business. All of our finalists will have benefited just by completing the entry form – it really makes you analyse what you are doing, why you are doing it and whether it is having a positive result.”

Martin Grant, chief executive of sponsor Inn Partnership said: “As the main sponsors of the NITA Awards, we would like to congratulate all of the winners. The standard of this year’s entries has been higher than ever and this augurs well for the industry as a whole.

“As a previous NITA winner, Inn Partnership recognises the value of the awards. Although as a sponsor we were not eligible to enter this year, we feel that by supporting an initiative of this calibre we are reinforcing the message that Inn Partnership takes training very seriously. Effective training guarantees effective delivery to customers and therefore successful pubs.”

The winners were announced at a prestigious Awards Luncheon held today in Piccadilly’s Café Royal. ends]


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