Punch Taverns is celebrating the second anniversary of its award-winning tenancy agreement for Punch Partners.
The Punch Foundation Tenancy (PFT) scheme, which was launched in May 2012, is unique in the industry because it involves working with carefully selected licensee partners to set up ready-made businesses, tailored to their neighbourhoods.
Key to the success of the scheme, PFT partners benefit from an impressive level of ongoing support from a team of specialists, including a dedicated partnership development manager and a new business team who work solely to bring PFTs to market.
New partners work through an industry-leading modular training programme, which typically takes a year to complete. Once they have mastered the basics, they have access to a wide range of further training and continuing back office support.
The PFT scheme has allowed the company to retrain ‘old hands’ to boost their technology, marketing and retail skills, at the same time as welcoming people with transferable skills but no prior experience in the industry. Recruits have included graphic designers, bank managers, school teachers, police officers and managers from other sectors.
To ensure business success, Punch Taverns invests in pub refurbishments and equips its PFT premises with the latest IT, including EPOS tills and the iDraught beer management system. Each business is linked to specialist accountants and given its own website and social media platforms, together with a 12-month marketing plan and an agreed minimum spend on marketing.
The model has proved so effective that Punch Taverns now has more than 80 PFT agreements. The scheme won Business Enabler of the Year at the National Business Awards in November 2013, with praise from the judges for its innovative approach.
Punch Taverns’ first PFT Partners, Jamie and Anya Slater, are a great example of how well the Punch Foundation Tenancy works. The couple – formerly a chef and a teacher – took on a previously unloved estate pub in June 2012.
After a £200,000 refurbishment and the introduction of food, average weekly sales at The Griffin in Rugby are now four times higher than before the PFT was introduced.
Jamie says: “The PFT has been fantastic. If it weren’t for the support from our personal development manager and accountant, we wouldn’t be in the position we are now. The support has given us the time to focus on gaining and keeping customers, and it helped us understand the pub business in a short time.”