UK pub company, Punch has been awarded ‘Best Training Programme – Leased & Tenanted Companies over 200 Outlets’, at the BII National Innovation and Training Awards, for its unique Publican training, ‘Art of the Possible’.
The awards, held last night at London’s iconic Café de Paris, celebrate those who have demonstrated training excellence and innovation in the licensed retail sector. The rigorous judging process consisted of an in-depth award submission, followed by a presentation and interviews in front of a panel of industry experts.
Punch came up against strong opposition on the night, overcoming both Marston’s and Thwaites to claim the well-respected accolade.
Over the last 17 months, 470 Punch Publicans and 141 of its managers have attended and completed the ‘Art of the Possible’ programme in full. The training course comprises of four modules; ‘Retailing Excellence’, ‘Go for Growth’, ‘Path to Profit’ and ‘Passion for People’- designed to support Publicans to engage their teams and increase the profitability of their pubs.
The annualised like-for-like operating profit for the pubs that have completed Art of the Possible has been significantly higher than the benchmark pubs and the tailor-made training programme has elicited effusive praise and widespread endorsement from Publicans and Punch team members alike.
Steve Dando, interim CEO at Punch, commented, “We are delighted to receive this recognition, particularly against such stiff competition.
'At Punch we are committed to helping our Publicans grow their businesses and ‘Art of the Possible’ has demonstrated the genuine value that Publicans derive from the programme and their motivation to make continual and tangible improvements to their business.”
“We are enormously proud of the programme and the feedback we have received. Well done to all involved!”
Image L-R; Anthony Pender (Chairman of the BII), Mike Clist (CEO of the BII), Jim Owthwaite (Senior Publican & Development Training Manager for Punch), Theresa Mitchell (Training and Development Manager for Punch), Helen Willis (Learning & Development Manager for Punch), Jamie Hanson (Publican Development Director for Punch), Julian Searle (Punch Development Manager for Punch), Charlotte Carroll (Senior Publican & Development Training Manager for Punch), Lucy Porter (Comedian for the evening)