Jon Shipp 2012 Winner

Jon Shipp was presented with the Jeremy Allen Award at the IoL's Gala Dinner on Thursday 15th November in recognition of his work in Bournemouth.

Barrie Davis and Frank Fender were also in the final 3 shortlisted for this prestigious award for their hard work, dedication and achievements in licensing and related fields.

The award, an ongoing tribute to Jeremy Allen, seeks to identify practitioners who 'go the extra mile' in working in partnership with other parties to positively make a difference in the field of licensing and the night time economy.

Presenting the award, Lisa Sharkey, partner at Poppleston Allen said:

'The award seeks to recognise individuals for whom licensing is a vocation, their night and day, just as it was for Jeremy. Everyone nominated for consideration of this award should feel very proud that others have recognised their commitment and dedication'.

Jon Shipp is Town Centre Manager in Bournemouth, providing a vital link between the licensed industry in Bournemouth, the Licensing Authority, responsible authorities and councillors. Jon was instrumental and the driving force behind the introduction of Town Watch for the town centre and a further two pub watch groups, which now cover the entire town.

In addition, Jon obtained the Purple Flag award for Bournemouth Town Centre and is now a national assessor for the award, as well as introducing the Best Bar None scheme 5 years ago in which he continues to drive forward by securing sponsorship and organising the awards evening, which attracted over 200 licensees this year with guest speaker the High Sheriff of Dorset.

Jon also introduced Light Nights, which is designed to bridge the gap between the early evening and the night time economy, which with the introduction of the Business Improvement District in the town centre should continue to improve the evening experience with the intention of attracting families to stay in town.

Jon is regional representative for Hampshire and Dorset for the National Pubwatch, and works tirelessly doing his job, as well as working with the events team on the Air Festival – which has achieved category ‘A’ status.

Jon is described as pleasant, professional and a diplomat when dealing with contrasting views with a methodical and dedicated approach and a passion for dealing with the night time economy using all the tools available to him including the ever changing and challenging licensing legislation.

Receiving the award at the IoL’s Gala Dinner, Jon expressed his pride at the nomination and paid tribute to his colleagues working with him in Bournemouth.

Institute Chairman Jon Collins said:

“The Institute, like many in the licensing community, remains keen to honour Jeremy’s memory. We were therefore most pleased to partner with Poppleston Allen to establish the Jeremy Allen Award to recognise those individuals that are going the extra mile in the field of licensing. John Shipp is a fitting winner of this year’s award given his ceaseless commitment to public-private partnership in Bournemouth. A partnership designed to deliver a safe, vibrant, diverse and successful night time economy”.

Award finalist Barrie Davis said of his nomination:

“It was particularly pleasing that, unusually, a number of nominations were received from people from a variety of backgrounds and organisations. These referred to the assistance people had received from my licensing guru website in the 6 years since I founded it, to help people to understand the interestingly worded legislation regulators have to deal with. I am touched and overjoyed to have been nominated as there can be no greater accolade than the recognition of one’s peers”