Punch Taverns chief Roger Whiteside crowned pub trade's most influential

23-May-2012 - Last updated on 25-May-2012 at 15:43 GMT

Whiteside: Punch chief crowned pub industry's most influential

Punch Taverns chief executive Roger Whiteside has been named the pub industry's most influential person in the annual Publican's Morning Advertiser Top 50 list.

He topped the list ahead of Enterprise Inns boss Ted Tuppen and JD Wetherspoon chairman Tim Martin.

Whiteside became the chief executive of leased and tenanted pubco Punch Taverns following its demerger from managed division, Spirit, in August 2011.

He has been credited with making a genuine effort to improve the relationship between Punch and its licensees, personally authoring a new partnership agreement and code of conduct.
To attract a higher calibre of partner, Punch now offers more flexibility, including free-of-tie pricing options, and has removed rent reviews (unless requested). It cut the number of pubs per partner development manager, and had success with its partner roadshows and Punch Buying Club, which announced its 100,000th order in May.

PMA group editor Rob Willock said: "Whiteside deserves his place at number one after making significant strides in developing Punch’s model in a positive way. Under his leadership, Punch is making a virtue of its efforts to change the traditional tenant/pubco model – one based on a fairer and more transparent partnership with shared goals and improved tenant profitability at its heart."

The achievements were recognised this year when Punch was given the highly commended prize in the large tenanted operator category at the Publican Awards.

Rankings in the Top 50 list were determined by a weighted combination of factors including share of voice in the trade and national press, size of the individual's organisation; performance and ambitions of their organisation; and industry awards.

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