It was my privilege as the then Chief Executive of the British Institute of Innkeeping (BII) in 2019 to have a long chat with Harry at our Summer Lunch, on that day celebrating his 38 years of membership of the BII, in front of 900 of his peers. From 1981 to 1990 Harry was general secretary of the National Association of Licensed House Managers (NALHM) where we first met at NALHM meetings, when I was just a junior Area Manager for Friary Meux in Guildford in the early 80’s. He became a founder member of the BII in 1981 and despite living in Italy he tried to come back every year to attend our Summer lunch.
Harry was a wonderful man to talk to, not only about pubs, but his involvement with the Labour Party, his continuous fight on behalf of British expats living in Italy as well as his work with the Italy Star Association. Harry was awarded with an MBE in 2014 for his work in identifying service personnel killed in WW2. He was better known in later life for his campaigning work against Brexit and the so called 15-year rule which meant Brits who had been out of the country for more than 15 years lost the right to vote. He won a great victory in 2022 with the passage of the Elections Act allowing expats to continue to vote. In recognition of his service to foreign British nationals he was awarded an OBE in 2021.
Last year at the age of 101, WW2 veteran Harry, who landed and fought at the Battle of Anzio in 1944 was asked to be the last to sign a book of condolence before the Queen’s funeral. The Defence Attaché Col. Mark Smith travelled to Harry’s home in Porto D’ Ascoli about three hours from Rome, to arrange the signing.
Harry loved the British pub and was desperately worried about the number of pubs failing each year. When in 2021 the editor of the BII magazine Kate Oppenheim interviewed him, Harry said “pubs are a great part of this country. Other parts of Europe have tried to copy them, but the true spirit of a British pub is never captured there because here they are an inherent part of their communities. They are about people, both those that work in them and those that visit them”. This was as true in Harry’s early days with NAHLM as it is now.
Harry loved life and loved pubs just as we all do at the BII. He will be missed by me and all that knew him, and the Summer Event will be all the poorer without his company.
Mike Clist – Non-Executive Director and former CEO of the BII