50 a week join Punch Buying Club
A total of 50 Punch licensees are applying each week to join the Punch Buying Club, which now has 1,600 pubs signed up less than a year after it was launched.
The level of sign-ups means that licensees within the estate are now conducting 20% of their turnover on-line.
The Buying Club is a key part of the Punch plan to become the "best value, most trusted" tenanted operator. Buying Club director Andy Slee said: "When licensees join Punch they should feel they are joining a big organisation with big benefits."
The Buying Club website offers a range of non-beer products at cash-and-carry prices. It also offers licensees training, advice on cask ale and holding cask ale festivals.
A total of 840 Punch pubs are now Cask Marque registered with Punch paying
for the first year of membership.
The darts and quiz night support package is generating 12,000 pub event nights a year across the estate. Members of the Buying Club also have access to special offers and prizes — three free tickets to the FA Cup Final between Manchester City and Stoke were up for grabs last week.
The club also has a blog that allows hosts to chat to each other and offers 24-hour online ordering. There is also a price-checker that allows licensees to compare non-beer prices offered by Punch with cash & carry prices.
"There's a perception that cash & carry prices are cheaper — licensees find that it's not actually the case," said Slee.
There are a host of further service improvements plan-ned for the buying club. These include an online marketing platform and a "green" accounting package to allow licensees to go online with their accounts.
Slee added: "The Punch Buying Club is a way for us to offer partners the ultimate in convenience, the best deals and, in time, a community for shared best practice. The buying club remains key to our commitment to become most trusted and best value."
