This year’s finalists are:
Craft Union Pub Company
Craft Union Pub Company, part of Stonegate Group, has continued to drive the business forward in the past year and expand to now 626 pubs operating at the heart of local communities across the UK.
It’s a business that clearly understands the value of reinvesting in wet-led community pubs, including in many of the UK’s most deprived areas, with impressive investment again last year and strong results driven by its clear strategy based around value, sport and community.
The Craft Union model works through an agreement where its operators are self-employed and receive a percentage of turnover (increased in the past year) and profit share, with the business taking care of all key central costs. This enables its operators to focus on their teams and being at the centre of their local communities.
The segmentation of its growing estate, including the development of a late-night model, means its initiatives and promotions are well targeted to meet the needs of different types of pub. Craft Union is also seeing the benefits of enhancing its induction, training and support programmes, with 50 Centres of Excellence now established with exceptional operators who mentor others and foster a network of success to help ensure its pubs continue to flourish.
Its ‘Make it a Million’ fundraising campaign, launched last February, has seen its operators host more than 2,000 fundraising events to collectively raise £1 million which has helped to support 650 local causes, including families and individuals in need.
Other successful initiatives include supporting Only A Pavement Away’s ‘Winter Warmth’ campaign, with over 4,000 items of warm clothing and supplies collected for local homeless charities and those struggling to heat their homes. Also, its Santa’s Toy Sack Appeal, which sees thousands of gifts donated to children in hardship, hospitals and hospices.
Joseph Holt
Independent family-run brewer and pub operator Joseph Holt, who has 127 pubs predominantly in Manchester and Greater Manchester, have run community pubs for generations, but took an impressive gear change in central support for community initiatives since Covid.
Its publicans are hugely passionate about community support, driving a wealth of fresh and impactful initiatives which make a real difference to local people. Its pubs have become like community centres and offer spaces which are warm and inclusive, with numerous social and support groups and activities on offer to help support a wide range of people, including those who may be feeling lonely, carers and people with dementia.
Activities include bereavement and menopause groups, book clubs, parent and baby meet-ups, fitness sessions for the elderly, offering warm spaces and community gardens.
Other impactful initiatives include Christmas ‘Giftmas Trees’, which saw thousands of presents collected for a range of charities and local projects, its Feb-Brew-ary initiative to help tackle loneliness, a weekly darts academy for young people, school uniform giveaways and a defibrillator campaign - with a growing number now installed at its pubs.
An amazing amount of ongoing fundraising is achieved through its pubs and HQ for local charities and projects which really matter to local people, including its 175th anniversary charity appeal, launched last year for The Christie Hospital and Holt Radium Institute, which raised £710k.
There is also a wealth of fundraising and/or personal support for other local projects, as well as families and individuals, driven through its pubs.
The business also has some great local partnerships, including with HM Pasties, which employs ex-offenders.
Ossett Brewery Pub Company
Since independent family-owned business Ossett opened its first pub in 2003, a community focus as well as great beer crafted at its own breweries, has been at the heart of them.
Ossett now has 17 community-focused pubs, three Hop bars in West Yorkshire and 11 taprooms from sister business Salt in London and Yorkshire.
Strong attention to detail is placed around the local history of its pubs, with newly refurbished sites such as The Brewers 1841 in Ossett (a finalist in Best New Pub in these awards), featuring thoughtfully preserved elements and old features of the building.
Links between the brewery and the pubs’ communities are reinforced by its managers brewing beers, at its microbrewery located at The Riverhead at Marsden pub, inspired by their pubs’ local community.
The ongoing investment in its pubs is proving really impactful in not only driving sales further but also having a huge positive impact on the local community.
The aim of its pubs is to enhance and serve the local communities they are in, and they aspire to be rooted in genuine community engagement, where customers feel connected and valued through the pubs’ welcoming atmosphere.
Its pubs’ engagement with local people is also driven through sites hosting or supporting the key community events in their local area. Also through fundraising for local projects and for a Yorkshire children’s hospice.
Managers are empowered to lead involvement in their local areas with many having community noticeboards at their pubs and regular community activities hosted such as weekly quizzes, local food and music festivals and seasonal events including Easter Egg hunts, family Halloween parties and Christmas markets.
