S&NPC speeds up online recruitment

Scottish & Newcastle Pub Company (S&NPC) has set up a new recruitment website to speed up the process and personalise it to individual applicants.

It comes after research by the pubco showed that prospective lessees feel "overwhelmed by the complexity and sheer amount of information" presented when considering taking on a pubco pub.

The recruitment process has been stripped down to four stages: getting to know you, meeting up, planning your new business and picking up the keys.

Applicants have access to a personalised My Pad account where they can build a shortlist of pubs, similar to an online retail site shopping basket. It includes a 'to do' list with timelines, ideas jotter and an application form, which can be revisited and updated at any time without losing data.

There is also a My Library section, which has business plan templates and site-

specific information, such as the draft lease, recent trading figures and price lists.

Other features include three 'talking head' video interviews with S&NPC lessees, an interactive pub highlighting what is involved in running a pub, a quiz to gain better understanding of the applicants' suitability to run a pub and a pub search facility that allows users to search by pub type.

S&NPC trading director Chris Moore said: "It is incumbent on companies such as ours to be as clear as possible with potential lessees about what is involved in running a pub.

"It is not a career suited to everyone and this should be made apparent as early as possible in the recruitment process.

"Like many industries facing tough trading conditions, we need to ensure we have the best candidates for the roles. The pub trade needs to attract people who have commercial experience and appreciate what is involved in running a business."