Since the launch in January this year, licensee operators have been entering the competition, showing the judges evidence of how they have been building their businesses and communities, with a focus on their resilience, sustainability, diversification and commitment to their teams.
In partnership with Sky Business, the Licensee of the Year competition is widely regarded as the most rigorous and hard-fought award for individual licensee operators in the UK. This year, the entries and Quarter-Finalists have been of a particularly high standard, making it even more difficult for the team of judges to decide who made the Semi-Finals.
Selected from a field of over 800 nominations, the 12 Semi-Finalists have reached this far in the awards based on their exceptional entry forms, social media and web presence audits as well as mystery customer visits, courtesy of Proinsight. Head Judges, Amanda Hemming FBII and Ashley McCarthy CBII, will be making their way across the country over the next few weeks to meet all of the Semi-Finalists in person to experience their businesses first hand.
The 2026 Licensee of the Year Semi-Finalists are as follows:
Becky Sumner – The Red Lion Eynsham
Darren & Shannon Harding – The Woolpack Inn, Islip
Eamonn England & Arina Piskunova – The Windsor Castle
Ian & Lisa Prior-Richards – Earl of Chatham
Jacqueline Fairburn – Hare & Hounds
James & Charlotte Foy – The White Horse
Linda Cole – The Berkeley Arms
Matt Crowther & Hollie Blythe – The Lost Pug
Micky Foden-Andrews – The Swan in Clewer
Nicholas & Wendy Harrop – The Ranken Arms
Nigel Smith – The Fleece Inn
Sonia Labatut – The Plough
Steven Alton, BII CEO commented:
“Our Licensee of the Year Award is the most prestigious & hard-fought award, showing the excellence in our sector; our Semi-Finalists are of a fantastic standard. We have some familiar faces returning to the competition in 2026, as well as some brand-new operators to the LOYA process.
“We are proud that the awards process this year, more than ever, is offering a value-added experience to all those involved with business insight and the chance to evaluate your business available at every stage. In addition to the mystery customer visits, facilitated by Proinsight, we have this year again been supported by useyourlocal who have been promoting our entrants to consumers across the whole of the UK. With Cask Marque auditing cellars in addition to the visits from our Head Judges, Amanda and Ashley, the competition this year will provide more value to contestants than ever before.”
Following the judging visits, the finalists will be announced in mid-May.
All six finalists will be presented with a trophy at the BII Summer Event on 16th June, where the overall winner of Licensee of the Year 2026 will be crowned.
To learn more about the LOYA Semi-Finalists, please visit the BII website: https://bii.org/events-and-awards/loya/
