Naz Pathan is the winner of the 2024 Jeremy Allen Award

The IoL and Poppleston Allen Solicitors are delighted to announce Naz Pathan as the winner of the 2024 Jeremy Allen Award.

Naz’s nomination cited his enormous commitment working within the licensing team at Solihull since June 1998 along with the dedication and enthusiasm he has shown during that time and the reputation he now has as the  ‘go-to’ person not only regionally but further afield.   

His achievements include:

• Worked closely with NALEO (formerly NATPHLEO) in the days when they used to hold the three-day training conference in Daventry.
• Set up and chaired the Regional Taxi Licensing Forum (RTLF) – a network of colleagues from around the West Midlands, Worcestershire, Warwickshire, Staffordshire and Shropshire working in the field of taxi licensing to share information, learning, best practice and topical discussion points so that all can benefit.  He is the SPOC for the Common Law disclosure unit at West Midlands Police for circulating information.
• Created, coordinated and led on Multi-Agency Vehicle Exercises (MAVEs) in Solihull and the wider region to promote road safety, disrupt criminality on our road network and achieve compliance across all agencies.  Partners include West Midlands Police, West Midlands Fire Service, HMRC, DVSA, HM Courts warrants officers, Trading Standards and the Environment Agency. These exercises were held 3-4 times per year and received significant public acclaim via social media channels due to the positive results.
• Designed and implemented a supplementary test in collaboration with our approved testing stations across the borough.  This test included additional items to be checked on taxis/PHVs in top of the normal MOT.  This helps to improve safety of the vehicles.
• Trained police officers based at Birmingham International Airport, Birmingham International Railway Station and the National Exhibition Centre on taxi licensing, achieving taxi compliance and how to report breaches to the team.
• Worked closely with British Transport Police regarding metal thefts in the region and the use of ECINS for logging scrap metal licence information and intel.

Institute of Licensing Vice Chair, David Lucas, said:

“Naz is a credit to his profession. During his long career in licensing, he has exhibited all the attributes that the Institute of Licensing seeks to acknowledge through the Jeremy Allen Award. His nomination clearly revealed the extent to which Naz is committed to licensing and carrying out his responsibilities at Solihull Council.

I would also like to offer my congratulations to Joanne Boyle and Stephen McGowan. Although they did not win the Award, they obviously command the respect of their colleagues, as demonstrated in their nominations.”

Poppleston Allen Partner Nick Arron said:

“It was a pleasure to present this award to Naz Pathan.  Naz has consistently gone the extra mile through his work for Solihull Council, and the nomination and support of his nomination clearly demonstrated the regard in which his colleagues hold him.  He is a worthy winner of the Jeremy Allen Award”.

Naz said:

“I won’t lie, but I was very nervous on the day, and when they called out my name I was so shocked, but at the same time I was humbled and honoured in receiving the award. I never imagined for once that I would win and receiving the award for recognition of my hard work and efforts in the licensing field, well it’s just an amazing feeling.

“I wanted to accept the award on behalf of all licensing officers and staff in the country, who have worked tirelessly and strived to keep the public safe and address public safety and safeguarding concerns. We are all worthy winners, and we are the small cogs that keeps everything turning and the service going.

“Licensing is such a grey area even after all these years I am still learning and every day is different, with new challenges and problems and scratch your head days. You cannot believe some of the things and stories you come across, and nothing surprises me any more – I am sure that we can all probably write a book about our experiences, and it would be an interesting read.”

Nominees and Finalists 2024

The other nominees and finalists for the Jeremy Allen Award 2024 were:

• Stephen McGowan, TLT Solicitors
• Joanne Boyle, (formerly) Trafford MBC

Background

The Jeremy Allen Award was established in 2011 as an ongoing tribute to Jeremy Allen and is awarded jointly by the Institute of Licensing and Poppleston Allen Solicitors.  The annual award seeks to recognise those individuals who consistently go the extra mile in their passion and dedication to their work in licensing and related fields.

Crucially, this award is by 3rd party nomination, which in itself is a tribute to everyone nominated in that they have been put forward by colleagues in recognition and out of respect of their professionalism and achievements.

The nomination period for the 2025 Jeremy Allen Awards will run from June 2025 until early September 2025.  Subscribe to our regular updates to ensure you get our notification in June and receive our weekly licensing news updates in the meantime.