Meet the finalists – Best Tenanted/Leased Pub Company (up to 500 sites) sponsored by Carlsberg Marstons Brewing Company

Everards

The Leicester-based brewer Everards combined practical support with financial assistance  for its business owners during the lows of the pandemic, regardless of their level of experience, pub size or trading style.

Rents were cancelled for six months and the company took on the burden of destroying beer already in the supply chain. In many cases, the pandemic assistance packages available had a direct influence on the support these pubs could in turn give to their communities.

The company demonstrates day-to-day openness and honesty in its relationship with tenants, allowing them to get on with the job of running their business, while giving them valuable backing and advice, including marketing support and access to design teams.

Flexibility on types of tenancy agreements broaden the attraction to potential new business owners and allow existing ones to expand their horizons.

Hall & Woodhouse

The long tenures of many tenants in the Hall & Woodhouse estate are testament to the ongoing support the company provides.

The Dorset-based company has successfully translated its family business culture into its relationships with business partners, giving them backing when needed and trusting them to get on with doing what they do best at other times.

The overall impression is of a close community of tenants that are valued by the company for their contribution to pub tradition and culture, not just the revenue they bring in. During lockdown and the various complications of reopening, Hall & Woodhouse hosted numerous webinars and shared best practice from its managed business to help tenant operate safely and profitably.

The company also continued to provide capital expenditure support for business partners in lockdown, despite the substantial hit it took from cancelling rents and trade bills. All of this combined to see Hall & Woodhouse emerge from the pandemic crisis with no vacancies in its tenanted estate.

Wells & Co

Wells & Co opened a brand new brewery and HQ in Bedford last year, providing a steady flow of exclusive beers and NPD to give its pub partners an element of exclusivity in their local markets. Indeed, the use of data to understand better the locations in which its pubs operate has been a major focus of Wells & Co’s tenanted division’s business development in the past year.

A new pub segmentation model helps tenants to shape their own businesses to meet their own community’s needs.

The company has also embraced tech to provide a platform for its pub partners to more easily access customer reviews and reputational feedback so that they can enhance their service levels in today’s difficult trading environment.

A revamped internal communications structure has streamlined the flow of important information from head office through to tenants on the front line. This included the sharing of ideas that pub partners had executed to generate new revenue streams.