Nine out of 10 tenants ‘Would renew with Brakspear’

Chief Executive Tom Davies

Survey reveals industry-leading support for tenants

More than nine out of 10 Brakspear tenants (92%) would renew their agreement with the company, according to the pub operator’s survey of its tenants, which also shows scores up on a raft of key measures since the last survey in 2012.

All Brakspear tenants were sent a questionnaire asking them to score various aspects of their relationship with the company, from recruitment to training and interior design to beer quality.

Brakspear chief executive Tom Davies said, “While there’s always room for improvement, we’re very pleased with these results.

“The aim of our first survey in 2012 was to identify areas where we needed to improve our support for tenants, and these results show what we’ve achieved in the last two years. On a whole range of issues that matter to our tenants, we are performing ahead of our 2012 results. Our score of 92% on the key question of agreement renewal is an improvement on the last survey, which we’re very pleased with.

“Brakspear, like all pub operators, is always looking for ways to attract and retain talented tenants with the potential to develop a successful pub business. These results tell us that we are getting most things right, most of the time, and the majority of our tenants are very happy running a Brakspear pub.”

The results reflect Brakspear’s focus on improving its support for tenants over recent years. Since the last survey it has recruited two marketeers and a second interior designer, and developed a comprehensive programme of training courses for tenants on a range of subjects from maximising food and drink profits to customer service and social media. Training scored an impressive 84%, and more courses have been added as a result.

More than 90% of respondents were happy with the support received from head office, and a similar number reported a good relationship with their BDM. Beer quality received a 94% score while 91% were happy with the recruitment process, and 80% would recommend running a Brakspear pub to other tenants.

The results come towards the end of Brakspear’s reign as Pub Company of the Year 2014, awarded last March by leading industry magazine The Publican’s Morning Advertiser. Davies added, “As part of the process for the Publican Awards, judges interviewed our tenants on many of the areas also covered in our survey, so we knew then that we had made real improvements. These results confirm that we are continuing to move in the right direction.”