As part of Punch Taverns’ continued commitment to work closely with their Partners, a selection of licensees from Punch pubs attended a partner forum on 11th June.
The forum took place at Risley Park in Derby, where licensees attended from pubs across Derbyshire and Yorkshire to discuss the wine, cask ale and future initiatives to drive footfall.
Glenn Allen, who has been running the Red Lion in Bakewell for nine months, found the forum very beneficial: “I was really curious as I have never attended a Punch forum before and it was an ideal opportunity to talk directly to Punch staff as well as other publicans to see what they had to say.
“It was an extremely positive initiative and I got a lot out of it as there were so many different types of pubs to provide a different angle. I found the discussions around cask ale and Finest Cask particularly interesting and I look forward to see how my ideas and input will be addressed and taken forward.”
Garry Fantom, who has run the Rutlands Arms in Holmesfield for almost four years, commented: “I found the forum extremely useful and I got a lot out of it. It’s always good to share best practice with fellow licensees, especially in regards to cask ale, wine promotion and boosting footfall.”
Caroline Jackson, Head of the Contact Centre, said: ““We’re always looking for ways to support our pubs to drive footfall and sales. We also wanted feedback on what we currently offer in terms of cask ale and wine.
“As result of the feedback, it has helped to reconfirm and expand on issues raised at our Buying Club Summit in May, such as our online product range, multi-channel help options and creating interactive ‘community’ initiatives.”
Punch also receives feedback from Partners through the Partner blog and Partner survey on the Punch Buying Club website, the HIM survey and the Contact Centre.
Andy Slee, External Affairs and Central Operations Director said: “We found the forum very useful, helping us look more closely at the needs of our partners and to develop a number of initiatives. Feedback from the partners who attended was very positive and has encouraged us to plan more events in the upcoming weeks.
“The forums are just one of a number of initiatives to help us build strong working relationship with our Pubs and to maximise the value we to them.” He added