Tenants polarised over pubcos
The PMA has been given exclusive access to the results of the Tenant Track 2012 programme from him! Research & consulting, which surveyed 949 pub tenants from 13 pubcos.
The research revealed generally high levels of tenant satisfaction with pub companies — however, the aggregated data masks a broad range of results from one pubco to the next.
Tenants gave their pubcos an average overall rating of 6.5 out of 10, but the scores varied from 4 to 8.3 depending on the pubco concerned. And while 64% of respondents would recommend their pubco to another tenant,
this measure ranged from 22% to 95%.
The research also indicated 79% of respondents believed their pubco’s code of practice was fair (ranging from 54% to 90%).
They rated the clarity of their contractual agreement at 6.4 out of 10 (range: 4.9 to 7.7) and the fairness of their contractual agreement at 5.9 out of 10 (range: 3.8 to 7.6).
The PMA has also been able to perform a like-for-like analysis on the results of those companies that took part in both 2011 and 2012.
This reveals no increase in tenants’ satisfaction with the clarity and fairness of their contracts, and no improvement in their assessment of the quality of advice they receive from their pubcos.
It does show that — as the tough trading environment continues into 2012 — tenants are seeking more help from their pubcos.
Some 81% of respondents said they felt that their pubco could do more to support them, compared with 69%
in 2011. Areas in which tenants are seeking more advice from their pubcos include: menu ideas (47% in 2012 vs 34% in 2011); how to increase food sales (57% vs 47%); and how to increase coffee sales (44% vs 39%).
Help with reducing running costs, promotions and introducing new products are also in greater demand.
The Tenant Track programme provides independently collected and verified feedback from tenants to help pubcos and suppliers with planning and strategy development — and highlights areas for improvement.
