Alan was presented the award, an ongoing tribute to Jeremy Allen, by Jonathan Smith and Graeme Cushion from Poppleston Allen.

Alan has over 46 years experience working in local government, 30 years in the field of licensing.

He has worked tirelessly over the years representing the interests of Licensing at local and national level, engaging with Government departments /national bodies and policy forums. He has chaired the Neighbouring Authorities Working Group in the West Midlands for many years and through him, this forum has been a huge support to fellow licensing officers in the West Midlands Region, sharing information and best practice amongst neighbouring local authorities.

On receiving the award Alan said

'It is a real honour for me to be chosen as the winner of this year's Jeremy Allen Award and it makes me particularly proud to know my nomination came from my own colleagues within the West Midlands Region. Credit should go to the IoL for continuing to raise the profile of licensing practitioners like myself, not just from within local authorities but among other enforcing agencies, the legal profession, training organisations and all those running businesses within the 'licensing' industry itself. Special mention must also go to Poppleston Allen for their invaluable support of this award and I feel sure that Jeremy himself would be equally proud to know that commitment, dedication and excellence in licensing will continue to be recognised, hopefully for many years to come.'

The two other finalists were:

• Rodney Gillis – Senior Licensing Officer with Dungannon and South Tyrone Borough Council.
• Louis Krog – Louis was nominated for his work setting up and maintaining Licensing Resources.