Craft Union
Stonegate’s managed partnership arm has marked its 10th anniversary by passing the 650 pubs mark and now has sites on high streets and neighbourhoods all over the country.
Focusing on screen sports and busy events programmes to engage the locals, Craft Union pubs aim to be vibrant, affordable and accessible social hubs, and the company is a serial winner of the Best Community Pub Operator.
Recruiting the right people to partner in this endeavour as it grows the estate has been a priority in the past year, and new psychometric testing has been helping it to sift through a record number of applications to run its pubs.
Once they on board, Craft Union works closely with licensees to make sure they have the right offer in place for their target market, while the highest achieving and most ambitious partners can develop their careers and become Centres of Excellence for the group, helping newer recruits to replicate their success.
Greene King
Building on a long-established reputation as a trusted partner in the leased and tenanted sector, with around 1,000 partnership pubs, Greene King grown its franchised division to 100 sites through the food-led Hive and wet-led Nest brands to offer a wide variety of agreements to match the needs of both pub and operator.
Perhaps the most innovative relationship in the past year has been with the MOBO Organisation, the people behind the eponymous music awards, which has opened its first pub with Greene King in south London, and is helping the company find new partners from under-represented communities.
It’s also been a record year for investment in the estate with £27million spent on upgrades and maintenance, while supporting its partners through challenging conditions, improving training and continuing to find new ways to reduce energy costs and carbon emissions in the pubs.
And with an average tenure running at more than eight years, it seems like Greene King’s partners are appreciating it.
Punch Pubs
Founded in 1997, and expanding to become one of the industry’s giants, Punch has evolved in recent years into an organisation focused on strengthening its relationships with a streamlined estate of some 1,300 sites.
Alongside more traditional tenanted and leased agreements, a variety of managed partnership brands are tailored to the style of pub and its operator, from the new value-led Unity community locals to the up-market food and accommodation houses under the Fireside umbrella.
Gamified training and insight tools are helping partners improve their performance while communications with and among them have been stepped up. There are now 35 Pub Heroes across the estate, experienced publicans charged with driving innovation and ethical initiatives, challenging the company on doing the right thing for people and planet, as well as its partners.
With investment in and growth of its estate set to continue thanks to the backing of Fortress Investment Group, these are exciting times for a revitalised Punch.
