Enterprise Inns: falling short of our code of practice will be a 'disaster'
Enterprise Inns chief operating officer Simon Townsend said it would be "disastrous" if the pubco fell short of the standards it had set itself in its new code of practice.
Writing in Eagleye, Enterprise's in-house magazine, Townsend said the group's new code of practice "details the standards by which we expect to be measured and the actions retailers should take if we are failing to live up to our commitments".
"Frankly it would be disastrous for us if we were falling short of these standards - both in terms of our business relationships, but also from a wider industry perspective.
"I expect the Enterprise team to offer market-leading agreements and provide first class service to our retailers, and I believe the code of practice will help us achieve this."
While critics argue that pubco codes of practice do little to alter the relationship between landlord and tenant, Townsend said his company was committed to its new document, which stated clearly what was expected of both parties to a lease agreement.
The code would be explained to retailers by their regional manager "in the simplest possible terms," he said, "making it very clear the way in which we aim to work together".
He added that anyone taking on an Enterprise pub would have to sign a copy of the code to confirm they had understood it, as would their regional manager.
Enterprise published its 31 page code of practice last month as part of its response to demands by MPs for pub companies to improve the conditions under which their lessees operate.
In his introduction to the group's code Enterprise's chief executive Ted Tuppen said the document set out its commitment to retailers, "spelling out the way in which we will work together with you for mutual success in your pub".
"The core values upon which we have built almost twenty years of success lead with fairness, integrity, honesty, transparency and mutual respect and these are the key themes that run through this code of practice," he wrote.
Part of the group's code says that anyone - apart from the most experienced operators and even then only at its discretion - seeking to run an Enterprise pub will be required to undergo and complete the group's five day induction programme, which will lead to three key qualifications: the BII Introduction to Licensed Retail Operations, the Level 2 Award in Food Safety and the BII Award in Beer and Cellar Quality.
Gerry Carroll, Enterprise's managing director (west), told the Federation of Licensed Victualler's Association's (FLVA) annual conference this week that it was "criminal" that people with no experience or training were allowed to take on a pub.
He told delegates at the FLVA get-together in Blackpool that his company was committed to helping the best people run its pubs with a range of support and training initiatives.
