Kate Nicholls OBE has been elected as Institute of Licensing national chair and will take over from previous Chair Daniel Davies who has served as National Chair since January 2015.

Daniel Davies will step down after a record nine years as IoL Chair, during which time he has overseen significant development within the organisation, representing the IoL at House of Lords Select Committees and many other key events, establishing the core team for the organisation and instigating additional member benefits including its LINK magazine. Dan has been a superb Chair for the IoL, and its longest serving.

David Lucas joins Gary Grant as Vice Chair of the IoL. David is also Chair of the IoL’s East Midlands Region since 2008 and is heavily involved in much of the IoL’s work, including working closely with the IoL team and supporting a number of stakeholder groups such as the National Licensing Forum and Local Alcohol Partnerships Group. 

He is also a member of the national Board of Best Bar None, the Committee of National Pubwatch, and a Consulting Editor of Paterson’s Licensing Acts.

Kate Nicholls, National Chair of the Institute of Licensing and Chief Executive of UKHospitality, said: “I’m delighted to be joining the Institute of Licensing as its National Chair and I’m looking forward to working with our members and wider stakeholders across the many facets of the licensing landscape.

“Having been involved in licensing matters for many years, I know how integral it is to hospitality businesses, and working towards excellence in this space is exactly the right goal.

“I’d like to thank Daniel for all his work over the past nine years and for his commitment to the Institute of Licensing. As its longest-serving Chair, he has left a clear legacy that I hope to build upon during my time as Chair.”