Work For Us
Pubs are all about people, and we’re passionate about creating a talented and well-motivated team of people who love working together and want to be the best in the business.
Punch Taverns is a national company, with its Support Centre in Burton-upon-Trent and a busy network of Partnership Development Managers, and other field roles throughout the UK.
Our operations include managing a property portfolio of 4,300 pubs nationwide, with buildings ranging from modern town centre bars to historic village pubs. We have a vast distribution operation that sells and delivers the beer, cider, spirits, wine, soft drinks and other products to those pubs. We also provide a wide range of services to the Partners who run our pubs, offering advice, training and support on everything from business planning and development to menus and marketing.
This diversity of activity means that we need to employ people with a broad range of skills and expertise, from Partnership Development Managers and property managers, to contact centre call handlers, catering experts, marketing experts and accountants. To read what some of our employees have to say about working for Punch Taverns, click here.
What are we looking for?
Our vision is to be the UK’s highest quality, most trusted and best value leased pub company. To achieve that, we need talented people, who can earn the trust of our Partners and shareholders, who will deliver results and work together as one team.
Equal Opportunities
Punch Taverns is an equal opportunities employer, welcoming people from all backgrounds. We believe that to succeed as a business, we need to create an inclusive environment, where all our people can realise their potential. This means that all employees and applicants will be treated equally, regardless of their age, disability, race, religion or belief, gender, sexual orientation, marital or civil partnership status.
Our goal is to treat all individuals fairly throughout the recruitment process. All appointment decisions are made purely on job-related criteria and the needs of the business.
What can we offer you?
To make sure we recruit and retain the best in the business, we offer competitive pay and rewards and the chance to make a career in the leisure and hospitality industry. We’ll invest in your career development whether you take up one of our apprenticeships or join us at a managerial level.
For our current vacancies, click here.
Meet The Team
If you want to know what it’s like to work for Punch Taverns, there’s no better way to find out than listening to someone who is already part of the team. Here are just a couple of the people who are currently building their careers with us….
Jacqueline Frow, Partnership Development Manager
Jacqueline became a PDM for Punch Taverns in 2010 with a background in marketing and operations. She is currently working through the BIIAB Level 4 qualification – Certificate in Multiple Licensed Premises Management. This will help her to add value to the pub businesses of the Partners she looks after, as well as keeping her up to date with best practice she can pass on.
As a PDM, Jacqueline visits around 40 pubs on a regular basis, working alongside ‘her’ Partners on their business planning, development and performance, as well as responding to specific problems and issues they may have. She says:
“It’s a really busy job, with the day to day call cycle, but it’s so rewarding getting to know our Partners and seeing behind the scenes of their businesses. It’s hugely positive when you see a pub doing well and you know you’ve helped make that possible. Because I see so many different types of pub business, and get to know the Partners, I can be quite creative, sharing ideas and suggestions that I know have worked somewhere else.
“Doing further qualifications is also really useful. It makes you take a step back, and the modules (like communication, profit and loss, marketing and merchandising) are a really useful refresher, a chance to consolidate my experience. It’s also a great chance to get together with other PDMs and share our experiences. You really feel part of a team here.”
Caroline Southwell, Operations Planner Coordinator, Buying Club and Central Operations Team
With such a variety of different roles within our business, our people often get the opportunity to be seconded to try different roles within the business. Caroline Southwell did just that, moving from her role in the Contact Centre to work as an Operations Planner Coordinator in our Buying Club and Central Operations Team after returning from maternity leave. She comments:
“I started at Punch in November 2010 working in the Contact Centre as a Contact Centre Advisor. Within this role I learnt a lot about the company, resolving queries which were logged by both our Partners and members of the public. I received continual support and encouragement from my line manager, Anna Russell who not only supported my development but actively encouraged me to complete my NVQ Level 3 in Customer Service.
“With this new knowledge, I began to get involved in developing the complaints process for the company
“I left to go on maternity leave in September 2012 but whilst on leave, I saw the advert for the Operations Planner Coordinator Secondment, which supports the management of executive level complaints from our Partners. I decided to apply and am delighted that I was successful!
“I am now progressing well with my new role and enjoying the variety of work I get involved in.”
Paul O’ Donnell, Partnership Development Manager
Paul joined Punch Taverns in 2009, as a Catering Development Manager, having worked in the hospitality business for a number of years, for Whitbread and then with his own outside catering business. In his catering role, he was supporting around 400 Partners develop a food offer as part of their pub business, but wanted to do more. He explains:
“I hugely enjoyed the catering role but felt that I could add more value to our Partners’ businesses than just looking at the food side. I was sure I had the skill set to focus more intensely on a smaller number of sites.
“The great thing about Punch is that you can have that kind of conversation – the company really does want you to develop. So, we mapped out a 12-month plan for me to transition to a PDM role.
“PDM candidates usually go through an assessment centre at the outset, but we agreed that I would complete my development plan first. While still in the catering role, I was able to spend two days per period on my PDM development.
“I moved into the new job in August 2012. It has been a huge learning curve but was made easier as I know my peers and know the language of Punch. I had worked so closely with PDMs in the catering role that I could draw on that experience.
“It was a great move. I enjoy the PDM role – particularly the tangibility of the results and the fact that you have direct responsibility and accountability for the pubs on your patch. I can’t think of many companies that would be so flexible and have such faith in you.”
Anna Russell, Contact Centre Team Leader
Over the last three years, more than 60 members of our Contact Centre team have undertaken a wide range of Level 2 and Level 3 Apprenticeship qualifications. Courses include customer service & sales, business admin, team leadership and management and can take around nine months to complete. Our people are being allowed some time in work to complete modules but they also make a big commitment to get the bulk of the work done in their own time.
Team Leader Anna Russell has achieved both a Level 2 in Team Leadership and Level 3 in Team Management, and was even nominated for a National Apprenticeship Award. She says:
“Completing the NVQs has helped me develop many of my skills, from maths and employment law to leading people. It’s great to have an opportunity to advance yourself and get formal recognition for what you actually do in your job. My confidence has grown and I now have greater responsibility in my role.
“Punch offers great opportunities to any member of the team who is prepared to go through the courses. It is a big commitment and it’s hard work but you get a huge amount from it.”
Our Values
Punch Taverns aims to be the employer of choice in the pub business, by creating a friendly, helpful working environment, where everyone is included and feels motivated, engaged and valued.
The key to this is that we share a set of values that make Punch different. Our values set out the way we behave, our approach to each other and to our everyday work: they set out how we will achieve our vision of becoming the UK’s highest quality,most trusted and best value leased pub company. We recognise those who embody our values through our PROUD Awards.
These are our PROUD values:
P – Partner First:
We put the Partner first in all we do, offering them the BEST possible support and the highest levels of service to help them run successful pub businesses.
R – Restless Dissatisfaction:
We constantly strive to do the BEST job we can and challenge positively where we think it could be done better. We continually seek opportunities for improvement.
O – One Team:
We all work together as one team with a shared aim to become the UK’s highest quality, most trusted and BEST value leased pub company.
U – Understand The Part You Play:
We are all clear on the key priorities of the business and understand how we as individuals can help Punch and our Partners to be the BEST that they can be.
D – Do It Once, Do It Right:
We always strive to do things right the first time and in the BEST possible way. We deliver on our promises and do what we say we are going to do.
We’re listening to our people
Punch people are encouraged to feel part of the team. Our Support Centre offices are open plan, with comfortable break out areas and a café. We provide free onsite parking and good facilities.
We regularly invite employees to have an audience with members of the Operating Board, where they have a chance to give their feedback on a range of issues in an informal and confidential environment.
If you want to get involved, there is a social committee which organises a wide range of events and activities, including seasonal raffles and a Christmas party. All of our employees can nominate causes for the Punch Community Promise, through which we donate time and money to a range of local charities close to employees’ hearts. The company intranet is also updated regularly with news stories.
Your Development
We’re committed to helping our employees realise their full potential, both for themselves, and for our own business success, through our uniquely flexible development programme: Punch Progress.
Punch Progress is an all-encompassing offer, designed to allow employees to tailor training and development opportunities to suit their own needs and aspirations. To see examples of how this works, go to the Meet The Team section. The components of Punch Progress include:
‘Lite Bite’ training courses
These short courses help employees address everyday practical skills, for example Excel or PowerPoint. There are also courses on behavioural skills, such as time and priority management, creative business thinking, assertiveness, personal impact and communication style. All our employees can access Lite Bite courses at any time in their career.
NVQs and Apprenticeships
Since we began working with hospitality industry training provider Charnwood, 77 of our Support Centre employees have now achieved a Level 2 or 3 Apprenticeship and progressed within the company as a result. Typical qualifications offered include Business Administration, Customer Service and Sales at Levels 2 and 3; Team Leader NVQ Level 2 and a Management qualification at Level 3. Dozens of our team members have completed such qualifications, and broadened their career options as a result.
Professional qualifications
Some employees advance their careers still further with a professional qualification. Our Partnership Development Managers are working through a BIIAB Level 4 qualification called Certificate in Multiple Licensed Premises Management. Punch was the first to trial this qualification with the BII and we have committed to put all our PDMs through the qualification. This supports our objective to deliver quality advice and support to our Partners.
Several individuals are working through a Level 7 Masters Qualification, which we have developed exclusively for Punch employees in conjunction with Leeds Metropolitan University. The degree is enabling those high potential individuals in our business to cultivate a broader business perspective and leadership style, which transfers directly into their roles. It is also important in terms of succession planning for the business, that we can develop our own next generation of leaders from within.
Coaching and mentoring
Beyond formal training, many of our people also benefit from some coaching support to help them reach certain goals or develop particular behavioural skills. Many others are gaining experience of unfamiliar areas of our business, through role shadowing and secondments to different departments.
Ultimately, we want to help all our employees to be the best that they can be.
Your Reward
We recognise and reward performance
Punch Taverns offers a competitive pay and rewards package across the many diverse disciplines and roles within our business. Through regular industry benchmarking, we offer a highly competitive base salary along with a host of other great benefits.
Punch Perks
Punch Perks is a flexible benefits scheme that allows employees to select from a menu of benefits to suit their lifestyle, according to their rewards package. Benefits include health care, pension, dental care, additional holidays, childcare vouchers, share incentive plan, travel insurance and more.
Annual Bonus
Every employee in the support centre and field operations is eligible for our annual bonus scheme, which is based on the company and employees’ individual performance throughout the year.
We also have an employee recognition scheme linked to our PROUD Values which ensures that commitment and dedication are rewarded.
Punch Progress
For many people, the opportunity to build a career and achieve personal ambitions or professional qualifications is an important reward in itself. Our award winning training and development programme is open to all employees.
